Love So True
by NintendoGal55
Summary: Brainy is given an offer he soon can't refuse. In this, he ends up changing and disrupting the love life of Helga Pataki for his own gain. But little does he know that no matter what is changed in the world, true love can never be altered.
1. Prologue

**Well admittedly, I got a LITTLE bit inspired by the **_**Back To The Future**_** franchise, and probably some other things. XD Like **_**Shrek Forever After**_**. Especially by my friend BrokenRose24's fanfic **_**The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. **_** XD**

_**Brainy is offered a deal he can't refuse from a mystical man. To ruin the love life of Helga Pataki so she won't meet Arnold like she did, so that she doesn't fall in love with him, so that she doesn't help him save the neighbourhood and confess she loves him, so Arnold won't confess he loves her in the jungle, so he won't realize they're meant for each other...so they'll NEVER get together. Now Brainy lives in a world where all of that didn't come to be. Will Brainy do the right thing, or will he be too absorbed in his own happiness to give up what he really wants?**_

**Now, listen up. From what you'll see in this story...I am NOT making Brainy out to be a villainous scum out to destroy Arnold and Helga's future just to get what he wants. He's talked into it, pressured, listening to the dark side of his thoughts, and it all brings out a part of him he never realized. Don't worry. You all know how I write. You all probably have a good idea about how this will end. ...But I hope the suspense and build up to it all will be worth it. :D**

**This story...or at least this part, the present time I mean, takes place after TJM, just to be clear.**

**I do not own the characters. The Master himself Craig Bartlett does!**

**Also, I made up Brainy's name. X3**

XXX

It was pretty inevitable, from what Brian "Brainy" Jehoshaphat Williams knew. He knew it all along.

He watched as the girl he loved, Helga Pataki, shared an ice cream sundae with Arnold at Slausen's. It had been a month since their return from San Lorenzo, and she and the football-headed boy have been together since he had confessed he felt the same way about her. The two had been very much in love, and although kept their relationship low key and more of a secret at school, but Brainy knew of their love, he knew it since their return from San Lorenzo.

He knew it was going to happen.

Despite it, he was happy for her. Very happy for her. Helga had been a lot happier and lighter since they'd returned from San Lorenzo, since she and Arnold began dating. It was great seeing her on Cloud 9, and how she was able to openly express to Arnold that she loved him instead of hating him. Yes, she did kind of continue her usual facade in front of their classmates, which was a tough thing to do since she just wasn't in it. He was sure their classmates noticed how less genuine Helga's negative attention toward Arnold was. They seemed to suspect something was going on between them.

Brainy watched from across the street as Arnold leaned over to wipe Helga's mouth, smiling and saying something to her as he did so. Helga blushed at his gesture and gave a playful smirk, saying something to him in return. The boy laughed and placed his hand over hers on the table, looking at her with adoration and love, that Brainy couldn't help but smile at. Helga must have been feeling the same way because her smirk melted into a lovesick smile as she said something to him, and he replied to it. The two then leaned across the table toward each other and rubbed their noses together in an Eskimo kiss. Too cute.

Heaving a wheeze, Brainy then continued on his little walk, hands in his pockets as he went along. Maybe now was time to stop keeping his eye on Helga. She didn't need him to be there to snap her back to reality during her dramatic monologues anymore. Well, that chapter of his life ended, and he was going to move on like any good person would

After all, when you love someone, you let them go when it's for the best. And this was for the best, he knew that all along. Maybe he couldn't help how he felt, but he could help what he did about it.

For a while Brainy just simply walked along the streets of Hillwood, taking in the fall air, which although was cool and crisp, was still a perfect day to just go on a stroll. He was in a good mood, just as he usually seemed to be, as he walked along with a smile on his face, a toothy grin in fact.

He decided to head on home, maybe catch up on some extra credit homework, read some more of _The Odyssey _as he'd been planning to do, or maybe help out his mom with the chores. Brainy liked to keep busy and build up his academic skills when he wasn't trying to "stalk" Helga, and he did like to help his parents out with the chores around the house.

The Williams family were an average middle class family living in a decent-sized and cozy condo. His father, Ken Williams, was a journalist/columnist for the Hillwood newspaper, and his mother, Ilene Williams, was a nurse. Brainy also had a little sister, Sara Williams, who was six years old, and also went to P.S. 118. Although since Brainy didn't talk much except amongst his little group of "braniac" friends, so no one knew that he had a sister, let alone that she attended the same school.

Brainy felt he was pretty blessed. Maybe he didn't have Helga's affections, but that was okay. He still had a good family, a good home, and just overall a good life. He would be fine. He knew someone else was out there for him. And when he'd find her, he would just know.

But then, at that moment, Brainy didn't even come close to knowing that within a few moments, his life would be changed forever.

Brainy stopped in front of a building, which resembled that of an old Victorian Era home. What was strange, was the front door slowly swinging open, even though there wasn't a breeze strong enough to push it open. He heard a strange...noise coming from it. Like the sound of someone exhaling...loudly, like the wind.

It was like a force calling him in...

A strange sense of fear, and yet, curiosity ate at him. Brainy stared up at the house, having not seen it there before. Or perhaps just never took the time to notice it? He wasn't sure.

Slowly he walked up the front steps, which creaked under his feet. His gray eyes widened behind his glasses, with curiosity and a touch of fear, wondering just what was going on. Of course, it was probably nothing more an an empty house that was long ago abandoned, given its desolate appearance, boarded up windows and damage to the foundation, roof, and paint along the exterior.

But there was something amiss. Brainy could tell.

Stepping inside, it was dark, except for the light coming in through the cracks in the boarded windows, and it was very dusty, as well as infested with cobwebs. Brainy held back a sneeze, as if doing so would make the house collapse. He took another step, and then another. It was so quiet, except for the whisper of the wind.

About to turn back and forget this whole thing, that was when a voice spoke up to him.

"Welcome, young Brian Williams."

For the first time in his life, Brainy wished he had the lung power to scream.


	2. Forthwind

**Well guys, here's mooooooreeeee! :D Hooray! I hope you guys will enjoy all the events that are to come! Now, I'm not entirely sure how long this story will be. I have the events planned out, but how long they'll all be, I don't even know yet. So, stick around and we'll see. :D Maybe it'll be short, or long, who knows. X3**

**You know the disclaimer, so let's begin.**

XXX

Breathing hard, a lot harder than he usually did, Brainy somehow managed to find it in him to take out his inhaler, and take some breath from it a couple of times. His eyes never left the man standing before him, which was a pretty big surprise in itself.

"You're quite speechless, I see."

The man standing before him was dressed in white-gray floor length robes, with bell sleeves, carrying a mystical staff. On his head he wore a pointed hat, like a witch's hat. He was older, looking very wise, and had long white-gray hair along with an equally long beard. His overall design reminded Brainy of an ideal live action Gandalf from J.R. Tolkien's _Lord of the Rings_ book franchise. His voice however, was thundering and yet sophisticated, sounding something like a cross between Jeremy Irons and Patrick Stuart, given that the man had a notable English accent.

But the question remained, who was this man, what did he want, and why was he dressed like this? Halloween was long over, and no one wore costumes outside of a convention for no reason. The Fantasy Convention held in downtown Hillwood wasn't for another three weeks, so it didn't make sense here either. Not to mention, why was he in an old abandoned house, and how did he even know his name?

"I can see that you have many questions, Brian. ...Or perhaps I should call you Brainy?" Said the weird Gandalf man.

"Uh...I don't care..." Brainy said. "...Who are...you?"

"My name is Forthwind." Said the man. "I am the Great Wizard of the West. And it seems to me, young Brian, you have many desires within you that you don't speak of."

"Uh...I guess..."

"There is a young girl, Helga, I believe...you wish for her affections."

Brainy took a swig of his inhaler. "How do you know?"

"As I had said, I am a Wizard, and therefore I know of these things. Tell me Brian, she is currently infatuated with a young man by the name of Arnold, is she not?"

"Uh...yeah. She is."

"As I thought." Forthwind nodded, tapping the end of his staff on the floor. "And though you are happy for them, deep down you are jealous."

"Not really..."

Forthwind held his hand out toward him, concentrating in silence for a few moments and then lowered his hand. "Tell me then Brian, if you were given the chance to have Helga's affections, would you come to take it?"

"Uh...yeah..." Brainy smiled. "I really would..."

"But you can see you two are not meant to be."

"No..."

"Then how do you think, would things have turned out, if she never met this boy Arnold?"

Taking another swig of his inhaler, Brainy thought for a moment before answering. "She'd...have it pretty differently, and maybe I'd be like her Arnold. She'd never have fallen in love with him if she never...met him."

"At times you wish for that."

"...Kinda."

"You wish Arnold were not in the picture. If not for him, you could have her."

"Yeah, I could...maybe..."

"Well then Brian, if this is what you desire...to live in a world where Helga's affections can and will be yours, will you take it?"

"I...I don't know..."

Forthwind raised his staff, the orb attached to the top end surrounded in spidery vines began to glow and pulsate.

"You can have this, Brian... You can live in a time and world, where young Helga has you as her Arnold...she will love you, depend upon you, and not anywhere in her life will she come to know this young Arnold... He will never be what he is to her today. They will not meet, she will not confess, he will not confess, I can start it all over... What do you think, will you take this, and live upon your desires?"

"Um..." Brainy blinked, unable to believe what he was hearing. Could he actually live in a world where Helga was all his? ...Would he want that? "How? How is that possible?"

"I will show you, young Brian. Now, tell me...do you wish to take this?"

A world where Helga never met Arnold, never fell in love with him, never confessed her feelings out of passion on the rooftop of the FTI building, and never received a reciprocation of her feelings, a world...where they weren't meant to be. A world where Helga could be all his.

Brainy smiled at this. At least Helga wouldn't suffer in the hands of never being with her love, because she wouldn't know him. Not directly, at least. Not like she did now. He did want to be happy, with her specifically, and he felt he did deserve it, even if he didn't ask for it.

Maybe now he wanted to get the girl.

"You feel he doesn't deserve her...you feel his denseness within was truly an annoyance...you feel they would not come together if they never met, you feel...that you deserve her. You see her for all of her worth. Does he? He does not."

"No...he does not..." Brainy repeated, as if in a trance.

"Take it, Brian. Tell me of your desire."

"I...I..." He took a swig of his inhaler. "I want to live in a world...where Helga loves me, where she doesn't know Arnold...where she doesn't love him. A world where I can have her... and give her the love she deserves. I wish...for this world..."

Before Brainy could process what was happening, he felt himself growing sleepy, as sparkles and orbs of light danced all around him, his eyelids grew heavy, and he felt warm and relaxed... Was this really happening? Was his wish going to come true? This was all a part of it?

"Go Brian...go and see your new world...go and see...what you will have...now and forever..." Came Forthwind's voice as everything faded all around him.


	3. A whole new life

**And now people, part of the "real" story now begins. **

**Oh yes, and I want to make something clear. Arnold STILL exists in this alternate timeline. Helga just never met him. He's nothing more than a passing glance and a name she barely knows. Sorry if I mixed you guys up with that.**

**Ugh...I can't believe I'm doing this... But it's only part of the story.**

**Sorry fans of this pair. This is as close as I will EVER get to writing BrainyxHelga. I am forever ArnoldxHelga. ALWAYS!**

**So let's go!**

XXX

Brainy opened his eyes, seeing that he seemed to be floating right in the middle of a strange vortex, like being in the middle of a twister. All around him he could see images, clear images of Arnold and Helga suddenly being pulled away from each other as they sat together at Slausen's, being pulled away from one another as they held hands. Brainy watched in amazement as many moments between the two seemed to fade and cause them to be torn apart...

Especially, going back to when they were young tots, three years old, when Helga first met Arnold...they were torn away from each other there too. For a moment, Brainy felt his heart sink, but there was no time for that. All the images were then gone, everything around him spun faster and faster...

What was going on? Was he dreaming? Was this really happening? Brainy wasn't even sure anymore. He was beginning to think he was just imagining it, having a "geek" daydream that involved fantasy elements, like wizards and elves.

"Reverse time...replace all that was once known!" Came the booming voice of Forthwind. "Go Brian...go into the world you desire!"

There was then a bright light, Brainy shut his eyes, and then, everything went dark once again.

XXX

_Beep beep beep beep beep_

Brainy snapped his eyes open, sitting up in...bed? He felt a little disoriented, until his mind registered that his clock had gone off. Shaking his head, he turned it off, and started to get out of bed. It had all been a dream. A silly fantasy dream. That's what he'd figured.

Still a little tired, he got out of bed and stood up, stretching. But something was amiss as he put his glasses on. His room...was huge. Outside the large window on the wall near the bed, was a view of Hillwood City. He was in a high-rise condo. But that didn't make sense. His room didn't have a few like that.

His bed was huge too, a Queen-sized double bed. The sheets were bright red, the covers were beige, the pillows were white, and it looked like there had been a second occupant in the bed.

Across from his side of the bed, there was...a bathroom?

Puzzled, Brainy made his way into the bathroom, and was shocked once more to find that it was amazing. Lovely patterned mosaic tiles were on the floor, there was a jetted tub in the corner, dual sinks, a shower stall, and two walk-in closets. One side of the vanity near the sink was occupied with various cosmetics and hair items, indicating there was a woman living there too.

That was when he got a look at himself in the mirror.

Brainy nearly fell over. His reflection was DIFFERENT! Hugely!

He was taller. Okay, not a giant, probably no taller than about 5'8" or so, but tall enough. He was scrawny, but more of an adult build, he had a bit more of his platinum blonde hair, the same kind of glasses he always wore, and a bit of a fuzz on his face, stubble. He was no longer nine years old. He was an adult. Around 25 or 26 years old.

"W-What...?"

On the other side of the vanity, he saw that he still had an inhaler and other paraphernalia for treating Asthma. It probably wasn't as bad now, but he kept what he needed close by just in case.

But what was going on? He was suppose to be nine!

Not only that, but Brainy spotted a wedding band on his finger. He was _married_?

"What's going on?" He uttered, worried.

"Brian!" Called a voice from outside the room. "Brian my love, are you up yet?"

Brainy froze. There was something familiar about that voice. It was distinctly different, but still held a familiar tone to it.

So he left the bathroom, and then walked out of the bedroom to come out into the main living area. The condo was pretty big, from what he could see. There was a living area, with a sectional sofa, a recliner, a flat screen TV, a fireplace, and a coffee table. A bookshelf of DVD's and video games sat next to it. There were two other bedrooms, one was being used as an office, with a futon, probably for guests, and the other was a formal guest bedroom.

There was another bathroom, from what Brainy could see, wasn't as nice as the master bath, but it was well kept, with a shower/bath, a vanity, a toilet and a cabinet for storage. The kitchen area had a dining room table, while the kitchen was of a large breakfast bar, the kitchen itself in an L shape, with a lot of counter space, and a lot of cabinets.

An in-unit laundry area sat at the end of the hall, with a closet next to it, and then there was the front door leading out into the hallway of the building.

It was a pretty neat condo.

And that was when Brainy saw the other occupant of the condo. Apparently his wife. She was in the kitchen making breakfast, her back was to him, but she was tall, taller than him by an inch or so, and had long blonde hair flowing down her back. She was wearing a lovely pink business suit, matching heels, and an apron as she prepared some eggs and bacon.

"Oh, so you're up, glad to see it. So you ready to eat or do you want to take a shower first?" The woman turned from the stove and Brainy nearly fainted.

The woman, his wife, was _Helga_.

And she was _beautiful._

No longer did she have a unibrow, her blue eyes sparkled, and she wore a sweet and loving smile, everything about her betraying her nine-year-old self. Her hair was down, a lot longer, and she wore makeup. She also wore a diamond ring on her finger, indicating she was married. His wife.

And that was when...Brainy knew what was going on.

They were 26, having been married since they graduated college at 22, therefore being married for four years. Helga was an attorney of law, and Brainy was in Medical School while also working as an intern/assistant at the hospital. They dated since they were kids, because Brainy reached out and was everything she wanted, the positive light in her life. He was...what Arnold was once to her.

But she didn't know him. Brainy did, since he was, after all, from a different timeline than this. In this new world, Brainy knew now that Arnold had skipped ahead a grade, and she barely even knew his name, just that he was a nice kid with a football shaped head and that was it.

He and her had been together since they were nine. They'd gotten engaged during college, and got married in Hillwood, then going on their amazing Honeymoon in Paris. Brainy saw a large blown-up photo of their wedding on the wall above the fireplace. Helga was a beautiful and ecstatic bride in a gorgeous pure white wedding gown and veil, with a bouquet of various white flowers, while he stood beside her in his tux, looking just as happy as she did. If not happier. She was now Helga Williams, and she was a thriving attorney, making her parents and her sister proud, since now the Patakis had a better relationship. All thanks to his help and advice.

Brainy couldn't believe it. He had Helga's love the way he always wanted it. She loved him like she loved...that other boy in the other world. He couldn't even think of his name now, he didn't care. He was too happy.

He had what he wanted. A new, wonderful life, with Helga as his wife. Forever.

Nothing could have possibly been more amazing.

Brainy brought his arms around her and kissed her, happily, with passion, pouring everything he had into it. She immediately kissed him back and melted against him, making him feel a sense of pride. It felt amazing to finally evoke this feelings on her.

Finally pulling away, he touched her face, making her blush. "Morning Helga...I'll just eat now, and shower after."

"Okay then, _brainiac_." Helga smirked, pecking him on the lips before pulling away and going back to the stove to turn it off. "So, you think Tim will finally get the job?"

Although Brainy had to think a moment, as he sat down at the breakfast bar, he realized who she meant. Tim Wells was a man in his late thirties who he worked with for the past few years since he started his internship at the hospital, and was a very kind person who was working to be a Neurosurgeon, but for now was just a doctor's assistant in the Neurology department.

"I think he might. Henderson is retiring in about seven months, so he's talking to his supervisor on getting some training in replacing him." Brainy replied.

"Ah, figured as much." Helga placed a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of him, along with a smaller plate of toast. "Okay, eat up my love, you have a big day ahead of you."

Brainy chuckled and started to eat his breakfast. It was very delicious. He now knew that Helga had a secret recipe when it came to seasoning the scrambled eggs, and it was wonderful.

Still, he had to wonder.

Whatever happened to Arnold? What came out of his own life?

Brainy shrugged, getting back to his breakfast, deciding not to worry about that now. Maybe he'd get an answer of that later, maybe not. He wasn't sure. All he knew now was that he sure did like this new life.

After finishing up, and placing his dishes in the dishwasher, earning a thankful kiss from Helga for helping her out, Brainy went into the master bathroom and took a shower. This was quite the life. A great condo, a great job, studying to soon become a doctor, a thriving social life, pretty good health, and most of all, the girl he loved was his wife and felt the same way about him.

All because of that wish...that Forthwind, the strange wizard man, granted for him.

_I can't believe it...he really is magical...he gave me a life I always wanted..._ Brainy thought as he stepped out of the shower, turning off the water and drying off.

This was going to be an awesome day, he could just feel it.

Brainy got dressed in his work clothes, combed his hair, and took his briefcase and jacket as he headed out.

"Well you have a good day. Remember, Meatloaf Wednesday!" Helga winked at him as she kissed him goodbye.

"Got it, Helga." Brainy chuckled, opening the door and heading out. Car keys in his hand, he saw that he had a 2005 Nissan Altima. Awesome.


	4. Encounter

**Now I bet you guys are wondering just where Arnold is, right? XD Well, you'll see! :D**

XXX

Brainy soon arrived at the Hillwood Hospital, parking his car in the parking lot. His shift today was to work from 9:15 to 3:30, and then he had to get to his class at 4:00 until about 7:30. So he had quite a busy day ahead of him. But of course he was looking forward to it, he knew far well he enjoyed what he did, studying medicine and working at the hospital as well. It was all part of his road to one day be a doctor.

He entered the building, going to punch in his card as he passed the receptionist at the front desk.

"Good morning, Sylvia." He said kindly.

"Hey, Brian!" Sylvia greeted. "How are you this morning?" She was a woman in her thirties, with fire engine red hair, warm hazel eyes, and a bit of a full figure to her. She was a friend of his and a bit of a guide to him around the hospital when he had first started his internship. She was a favourite, funky aunt or big sister to him, he enjoyed her company.

"I'm pretty good, thanks, and yourself?" Brainy punched in his time card.

"Just fine and dandy, getting the work load started, you know?" Sylvia gestured to the papers strewn about. "But I'm pretty excited! My husband is taking me to the opera tonight, since _Don Giovani_ is in town tonight."

"Oh, that's an excellent opera, I heard a lot of great reviews about it. How is Mark anyway?"

"He's doing pretty good! He got promoted to Executive Assistant at work the other day, so we're going to the opera tonight to celebrate it! How's Helga doing?"

"Wonderful as ever." Brainy chuckled, and grinned to himself.

"Figured! So hey, maybe the four of us could get together for dinner sometime? We're not too busy on Sunday, so maybe we could do something then?"

"That'd be good, we're not busy on Sunday either. Why don't you two come to our place around seven? I know Helga would love for us all to get together, anyway."

"That sounds like a plan to me! I'll run it by Mark and we'll call you later to confirm." Sylvia gave him a thumbs up. "All righty, I better get back to work. Have a good day, Brian!"

"You too, Sylvia, I'll see you later." Brainy waved to her as he went to the employee dressing room.

He went to his locker, and took out his assistant coat, putting it on. Taking a quick look at himself in the mirror, he too a swig from his inhaler, and released a breath. Brainy grinned at himself. Oh yes, things were going perfectly.

The door opened, and in walked one of the doctors in the department Brainy worked in, Dr. Maxwell, he was Brainy's supervisor. He was a man in his early fifties, with salt and pepper hair, brown eyes, and had a very kind and grandfatherly demeanour. He too had helped Brainy a lot around the place, and was a bit of a fatherly figure.

"Good morning, Brian, I'm glad you came now." Dr. Maxwell said, adjusting his glasses. "I have an important job for you today."

"What is it, Peter?" Brainy asked. Often he and Dr. Maxwell were on first-name basis.

"Well, Dr. Stella Shortman's assistant is away on maternity leave, and we need you to take her place until we can find a replacement. Would you be fine with that?"

Stella Shortman. That was Arnold's mother. Brainy knew that she worked here at the hospital ever since she and her husband came home for good from San Lorenzo. He hadn't seen her very much or spoke much to her, but he knew she was around and had a pretty good reputation around the hospital, she was a great doctor and even helped in putting together various medicines.

Brainy wasn't sure about this. He never questioned his superiors or turned down an assignment given to him, but he was unsure of what to do about this.

_No, there's no need to worry. I'm married to Helga, and as far as I know, Arnold probably doesn't even know Helga either. So why worry?_

"No problem, I'd be happy to." Brainy nodded.

"All right, that's wonderful. She's working in the clinic department today, you can meet with her and she'll give you the run down on what you need to do. She's a very nice woman and very professional. Whenever you're ready, she's waiting for you in her office on the second floor, room 23-B."

"Duly noted, Peter. I'll go and see her right away."

"Thank you, Brian. I'll see you later." Dr. Maxwell patted him on the shoulder, and then exited the room, closing the door behind him.

Taking another breath, Brainy decided to just brave it, go with it, and see this through. He was going to be a good assistant to Stella, he was going to be professional, he was going to be kind and polite. Sure, he did feel the sting of worry, but he knew he didn't have to worry. He could do it.

"I can do this. I know I can do this." He said to himself.

XXX

"Excuse me, Dr. Shortman?"

"Come on in Mr. Williams, Dr. Maxwell told me you'd be coming. Please, come on in." Stella smiled warmly as Brainy entered. "Have a seat."

"I will, thank you." Brainy sat down in one of the chairs before her desk.

"Dr. Maxwell tells me that you're currently studying in Medical School, and that you're working as an intern and assistant here, correct?"

"Yes, I've been studying at Hillwood University since I started in college, and I have to take a few more credits in Residency before I finish. I have been working here since my first internship in high school."

"I see, and I've heard you have done pretty well so far." Stella nodded and smiled. "All right, so you've worked for other doctors here before?"

"I have, Dr. Shortman. I've worked for Dr. Maxwell himself, and I often help out the other doctors when they are in need of a temporary replacement, while also working in the program in training to be a doctor here in the hospital." Brainy told her. _Okay, I'm doing good. ...Maybe this won't be so bad after all._

"Well, great!" Stella smiled. "That's great to hear, Mr. Williams."

"You can call me Brian, Dr. Shortman." Brainy smiled too.

"All right then, Brian. As Dr. Maxwell told you I'm sure, I'll be working in the clinic department today, and I'm sure you know the basic protocols in helping out doctors, am I right?"

"I do, Dr. Shortman. If you have any sort of guidelines that others don't, I'll be sure to follow them accordingly."

"That's what I like to hear. So, I'll give you the run down on how I work and then we can-"

"Excuse me, Dr. Shortman." The door opened as another doctor came in. "I'm very sorry to interrupt, but your son and his wife are here. He requested to see you, if that was okay."

"Oh, goodness." Stella now looked worried, and nodded. "All right Penelope, take him and his wife to the clinic, and I'll join them there momentarily."

"I will, Dr. Shortman." Penelope nodded and exited the room.

"Is something wrong with your son?" Brainy asked, careful not to say his name.

"No no, it's his wife." Stella said. "She's pregnant right now, and she seems to make a lot of trips to the hospital, including for a few false labours."

_Arnold is married?_ Brainy thought, feeling another wash of relief, and also mild confusion. Who was he married to? Did he really find happiness with someone else? He did feel a stab of guilt, since he knew pretty well how Arnold felt about Helga...in the other world, at least.

Then again, in this timeline, he didn't meet Helga, so he wasn't so worried.

"Would you like my help?"

"That'd be great, thank you! We may have to go to get her an ultrasound, anyway. Come on, we'll go see them now."

Brainy nodded and followed Stella out the door and headed down the hallway toward the clinic. His mind was full of questions, wondering just what he was going to be in for now, what about Arnold? Was he happy in his life? What was going on with him? Who was he married to? What was his life like?

Eventually they came to the clinic, and Stella entered one of the rooms, with Brainy following suit.

In the room stood Arnold, which surprised Brainy greatly to see him. He was pretty tall, around six feet or so, with his blonde hair still sticking up in all directions, his green eyes held worry, yet patience, sweetness...and something else Brainy couldn't quite identify. He was still scrawny, but with a light tone to him, and he was wearing a red and yellow plaid shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. Not much about him had changed, but it was still surprising to see him as an adult.

The woman on the examining table, heavily pregnant, and looking very bored, was Ruth McDougal, which surprised Brainy to say the least. He was married to Ruth McDougal? He couldn't even imagine it. Ruth? What had happened with that?

"Hey Arnold, what seems to be the problem?" Stella was asking her son. "Ruth, how are you?"

"I'm all right." Ruth replied, playing with some strands of her hair.

That was when Brainy stepped in. "I'm Brian Williams, I'm Stella's assistant for today while her previous assistant is on Maternity leave, until they find her a replacement."

Arnold looked at him and smiled. "Hey, I know you! You're Brainy, right? I remember you from grade school, before I transferred up a grade. It's nice to see you."

_And here I thought he'd kill me..._ Brainy thought, shaking his head. "Nice to see you too, Arnold. How've you been?"

"I've been good." Arnold said. "As you can see."

"All right Ruth, I'm going to just do a quick check up here before we take you for your ultrasound." Stella was saying to Ruth before she turned to Brainy. "Brian, would you get me the check-up items?"

"Of course, Dr. Shortman."

This was going to be a VERY interesting day.

XXX

**Yep, Ruth. I really don't know why I picked her. XD But I did want to put Arnold in a bit of an unhappy marriage. Yeah, I know, cruel! And normally I would've picked Lila, but...eh, I don't want to piss anyone off. And so I just picked Ruth.**


	5. The First Real Interaction

**Okay, so. Some of you are wondering WHY I picked Ruth.**

**Well for one thing, I'm not exactly pissing anyone off, am I? XD Although why people support this pair is FAR beyond me. But I digress. Normally I could have used Lila since I dislike that pair, or any other girl. But no, I went with Ruth. **

**Now just sit tight, y'all. You'll see why I do what I do in this story. :D**

XXX

"So Ruth McDougal, huh?" Brainy offered, to try to start conversation. He took his inhaler out of his pocket and took a swig.

"Yep." Arnold gave a nod. "You married Helga Pataki, right? She was also in our class back in grade school. I vaguely remember her. We never really spoke much beyond hello, and then after I transferred up a grade, I didn't see her except in the hallways."

Brainy nodded, studying the football headed boy's...no, man's face carefully. There didn't seem to be any type of resentment, anger or jealousy in his eyes, he was just curious. "Yes, I'm married to Helga Pataki. We've been married for four years."

"Well hey, that's great. Congratulations" Arnold gave a smile. "How is she doing?"

"She's doing great. She's an attorney of law, and finished law school last year. So, you two never spoke much?"

"No, I think one time she asked me for an extra pencil, and that's about it." Arnold gave a shrug. "We just knew the other's name, that's it."

"Oh, okay." Brainy nodded. So it was true, while they didn't exactly know each other personally, they just knew who the other was. Mild acquaintances, nothing more, nothing less.

The two men were in the waiting room while Ruth and Stella were seeing her OBG, to give the women some privacy for a while. So Brainy kept Arnold company as he patiently waited for his wife to be done so they could proceed to the ultra sound. Brainy had questions in his mind, wondering how Arnold and Ruth came about. He remembered that Arnold did have a crush on her back in fourth grade, but it was because she was beautiful, and might have also been because of her similar wardrobe and the fact that she resembled his mother somewhat. But that was it. He hadn't known a thing about her. His crush ended after Valentine's Day, though Brainy didn't know how that happened. He did know that Ruth wasn't entirely smart, and was a bit of a spoiled girl who was vain, especially when it came to her hair. But of course, people changed over the years, that much he knew. Ruth must have changed a lot and matured over the years, that was pretty possible.

And then again, it was an alternate timeline, so maybe Ruth changed even from her previous self? Who knows. Maybe they really fell in love?

"So Arnold, what do you do?"

"Me? Well on hand I'm a fifth-grade teacher at P.S. 118. I also studied Anthropology in college on the side, because I really want to be able to travel the world and study all the civilizations within different countries and continents, you know?"

Brainy nodded. "That's true, that's always a really interesting job. How's it been going?"

"Not so good, unfortunately." Arnold sighed. "Mom and Dad were planning to go to Borneo in December, and I wanted to go along with them, but now with our baby on the way, I have to crack down and work hard. Ruth was never fond on the idea of traveling the world, either. During college I did transfer to a school in San Lorenzo during one semester, which was great, but other than that, I had to work really hard once I got out of school since my grandparents died shortly after I graduated. And then Ruth wanted to get married while we were still in college, and I tried to tell her that we should just wait until I finished my education. She's a hairdresser, by the way, so she had gotten her license in her trade before I was finished college. But she persuaded me, and we got married, bought a house, I had to find another job, and luckily managed to replace a teacher who had retired at school, so now here I am." He looked apologetic then. "Sorry Brian, I didn't mean to ramble on about my life like that."

"It's okay, Arnold. Don't worry about it." Brainy assured. He knew that Arnold was still his usual self from before, to a degree, and that even a great advice-giver needed a break and to vent sometimes. "I guess fate dealt you a bad hand, huh?"

"Well it's been a drawback, but it's okay. I always look at the bright side of things." Arnold explained. "I do want to be able to travel, but I don't think that will happen for a few years now, since we have a lot of expenses to take care of, not to mention on a teacher and hairdresser salary, and a baby on the way. But that's life, isn't it? We'll manage, I still have plenty of years to travel in the future. That's if Ruth lets me."

"Always gotta listen to the wife, eh?" Brainy chuckled.

"Yep!" Arnold laughed.

"Brian! Hey Brian!"

Brainy turned to see Helga come jogging down the hall toward them, holding a metal lunchbox in her hand. The moment he saw her, he was entranced for a moment, just watching her long ponytail swishing behind her, and her luscious hips swaying as she walked, her skirt showing off her long, creamy legs. Even in a casual moment like this, she was truly a sight to behold.

"Hey Helga, what brings you here?" Brainy kissed his wife's cheek in greeting.

"You forgot your lunch, you so-called brainiac." Helga teased, giving him his lunchbox. "I had to go home to get some files during my lunch break, and I noticed it sitting there by the door, so I decided to come bring it to you."

"Thanks Helga, I appreciate it." Brainy gave her a one-armed hug.

"Anytime honey, now then I'll-" Helga then noticed Arnold, and grinned. "Well hey! I know you, you're Arnold! The football head!"

Arnold blinked in surprise, as did Brainy.

"You remember me?"

"Of course I remember you! Not many kids have a football-shaped head! And especially since you had quite a reputation for being such a do-gooder and a mini Dr. Phil! Haven't seen you since grade school, and after you went to fifth grade, you smart aleck!" Helga teased. "Last you saw me, I was Helga Pataki. Now I'm Helga Williams, Attorney of Law now."

Arnold laughed and shook her hand. "Nice to see you again, too. I'm just plain old Arnold, fifth grade teacher at P.S. 118."

"So what brings you to the hospital? If you don't mind my asking."

Brainy tensed lightly, because their hands lingered together for a moment too long, and he could swear he saw sparks between them. But he shook it off, thinking he was probably just imagining it, considering this WAS Arnold and Helga...thinking back to before the timeline was changed.

"My wife is getting a check up, she's six months pregnant." Arnold said.

"Oh wow, a baby! Congratulations!" The blonde woman looked at her watch then. "Shoot, I have to go. Duty calls. I'll see you at home, _Brainy_." Helga kissed his cheek, and shook Arnold's hand again. "It was nice seeing you again Arnold, good luck!"

"Thanks, Mrs. Williams, same to you."

"Oh come on, call me Helga." Laughed Helga, shaking her head. "I'll see you around."

Both men watched her walk off for a moment before they returned to the chairs they'd originally been sitting upon. Brainy was not sure what to make of the first "real" meeting between Arnold and Helga in this new timeline. Yes, they did know of each other back in their youth, but this was truly the first time, as he knew, that they actually exchanged more than one sentence with each other and actually just talked. Actually interacting. Naturally, Helga had matured over the years and it wasn't a surprise to see her warm up to him, considering she never had to harbour those hidden feelings and defend herself against everyone.

From Brainy's new memories, that although he never saw first hand in this new timeline, he just knew, Helga wasn't the same. Yes, she was still bitter due to her crappy home life and did have a bit of a defensive tendency and a temper, but she was more of a girl trying to be tough and have fun with pranking for the heck of it. But she wasn't the same bully from before. It only made her adulthood transition blossom into what she was now.

And now, the two who were supposed to be in love had met in an alternate time line, on different grounds than before. Helga wasn't crazy in love with Arnold and nor was she his own personal bully. Arnold didn't see nor feel the way he did about her. They were two completely different people. He wasn't her true love, she wasn't his.

But why did Brainy feel so uneasy then? There was _something_ about their casual and perfectly innocent interaction that made him feel tense. But what? Was there really something between them? Had he really seen sparks fly between them? Had their intense chemistry from the previous, "real world" come back? Or was he just feeling paranoid, given what he was used to from the "real world"?

That had to be it. Brainy reminded himself that in this world, Helga loved him, and did not feel anything toward Arnold further than an a former friendly classmate. Nothing more, nothing less.

So why did he feel like something was wrong?

"Wow. Two former childhood classmates in one day." Arnold chuckled. "This is a small world, isn't it?"

Shaking off his thoughts, Brainy smiled and nodded. "And getting smaller."

A couple of minutes later, Stella and Ruth emerged from the OBG's office, announcing that it was time to head to get the ultrasound. Brainy, having already assisted doctors before during ultrasounds, knew where to go, and led them all to the elevator to the third floor by elevator, so that Stella could focus her attention on Ruth, who was also being helped by Arnold. Despite their best efforts, Ruth just responded boredly and tiredly, as if she didn't care much. Brainy began to wonder if it was just the effects of pregnancy, or if she had grown to be a bored woman. Or just shy?

Brainy assisted Stella setting up the sonogram machine, while Arnold stood by, waiting while Ruth had gone into the other room to change into a hospital gown. Though his mind was on his work and getting things going, helping Stella out and everything, he just couldn't get his mind off the meeting from earlier.

While Helga didn't know Arnold on a larger degree, she did know who he was, obviously having remembered him after all these years. She did have good memory, even down to the minor details, but really, she remembered Arnold from all those years ago in elementary school, up until he transferred to the fifth grade back when they had all been in fourth grade. Beyond that, they never actually interacted. But the point was, she knew who he was, even now at the age of 26 years old, she knew who he was. Even after not having spoken to him for 25 years.

He tried to assure himself that he had nothing to worry about, but did the nagging voice at the back of his mind tell him that he DID have something to worry about?

Then again, what was he worried about? Helga wasn't about to immediately divorce him like that. And Arnold was married too, not to mention having a baby on the way, he too wasn't the kind of person to do such a thing. Arnold would try hard to work out problems and try to make the marriage work before he would decide to throw up his arms and say "I want a divorce!". And cheating was out of the question for either of them, he knew Helga wasn't a cheater, and Arnold was the last person on earth to ever intentionally cheat.

Brainy just took another breath as best as he could, telling himself not to think about it. Helga loved him, not Arnold, and they were happily married. He just had to remember that. If Helga did want to interact and even be friends with Arnold, that would be fine, he wouldn't hold her back out of some paranoid fear he could never explain to her. There was a chance the two could just be friends, and nothing more.

Ruth came back into the room then, interrupting Brainy's thoughts.

"I'm ready." Ruth said, walking over, and getting up onto the examining bed. Arnold came to her side, and she gave him her hand to hold, not even looking at him.

"All right, Ruth. You know the procedure by now, so we'll get right to it." Stella adjusted the screen once more, before turning to Brainy. "Hand me the jelly, please."

"Here you go." Brainy handed her the bottle.

"Thank you, Brian." Stella smiled, and he returned the gesture. She instructed Ruth to lift her gown a bit, exposing her swollen, pregnant stomach.

She spread the jelly along her stomach, before then taking the wand attached to the sonogram machine, placing it on her stomach where the jelly was.

The screen focused, as Stella adjusted the frequency, now showing the barely visible silhouetted form of a baby. Brainy couldn't help but stare in awe. Even though he'd seen this several times, he still couldn't help but feel a warmth come to his heart at the miracle of life. And it was Arnold and Ruth's, no less.

"So, if I move the wand this way, you can see the baby's feet." Stella said, moving the wand along Ruth's stomach.

"Mm-hmm, that's nice." Ruth murmured boredly.

Brainy raised a brow, though unseen to the others. Why did Ruth seem so bored? Wouldn't any expectant mother be excited to see this? Or was she really that bored, or that tired? He could see Arnold's face fall at his wife's reaction, but had turned his attention back to the screen, also awed by the sight of his child.

"Oooh, just as I thought, it looks this little munchkin is inheriting her dad's head." Stella giggled.

"Oh." Was all Ruth said, looking down at her stomach for a moment, and then back at the screen. Once more, very unenthusiastic.

"I guess it really does run in the family." Arnold chuckled, and both Brainy and Stella laughed along with him. Ruth was the only one who didn't laugh. She just looked down at her fingernails.

That was also when Brainy noted that she wasn't wearing her wedding ring. Arnold was, but she wasn't. Now that was odd. To be fair, he assumed it was probably because she either didn't feel the need to wear it, which was fine, or that her hands may have swollen in the pregnancy and it no longer fit her at the moment, or it even needed resizing for unrelated reasons altogether? Didn't wear it to bed and forgot to put it on?

A lot of questions were buzzing in his mind yet again. But of course, it wasn't his place. It was probably nothing to worry over. Ruth was probably tired, didn't feel like wearing her ring or needed it re-sized, and they were just hitting some tough times because of being pregnant.

Still, Brainy wondered just what was going on.


	6. Moments like this

**So here we go, more story! :D Hooray! X3**

**And no, contrary to what this chapter might present, I am NOT making it a "Oh my God...if Arnold never got together with Helga...then the BEST THINGS would happen to EVERYONE!"...Because...that would be pretty cruel...**

**For me.**

XXX

After quite a day at work, Brainy was pretty glad to be home now. It was quite something, experiencing a day in his new life, in the alternate timeline. He began to wonder if he was going to wake up to find that it was all a dream, but no, after a few pinches to himself, he found he wasn't dreaming. It was real. This was a new reality.

Not just that, but things turned out...interesting for their classmates from P.S. 118, as well.

Gerald and Phoebe were getting married in a few months, since Phoebe had wanted to finish her education in becoming a doctor before the hectic planning and organizing of a wedding would get in the way of everything. They currently lived out in Seattle, where Phoebe wanted to get started in a bigger city at a larger hospital, and there was talk of them moving back to Hillwood after the wedding, but it was still undecided at the moment. Helga and Phoebe were still the best of friends, and got together a few times a month when they weren't too busy, and most of the time just spoke on the phone, or exchanged e-mails.

Harold and Rhonda were currently dating, much to everyone's surprise, but they too were doing very well. Rhonda had started her own little business in fashion design, where she designed all kinds of clothes and accessories. Harold inherited the butcher shop from Mr. Green who had retired a couple of years back. He hadn't gone to college, but he did take some Vocational classes on business management to help in running the place. They lived in a condo not far from their own neighbourhood, which was quaint and cozy, in which Rhonda surprised everyone when she announced she loved it. She had grown up a lot over the years and although still maintained her love for fashion and the luxury life, she was more simple and down-to-earth, learning to appreciate the smaller things in life. As a result she was a much nicer and kinder person. In fact, she even used part of the proceeds of her fashion line to be donated to charities, and even donated the sample clothing when she no longer needed them.

Curly was surprisingly married to Nadine, and they were now living in Africa to study various animals, and insects. Curly had mellowed out a lot over the years, especially when Helga took him under her wing, and although he still had his set off eccentricities and loud obnoxious moments, he wasn't as crazy as before. He was a veterinarian and a research zoologist, while Nadine was an entomologist. They did seem like an odd pair at first, but they really balanced each other out and worked perfectly together.

Eugene and Sheena were also soon to be getting married, they had started dating in high school when Eugene finally got over his insecurity and fear of girls, not to mention Sheena! Now they rented an apartment in downtown Hillwood, where Eugene worked as a newspaper journalist/columnist for Hillwood's paper, as well and also wrote plays for the local community theatre. Sheena was a school teacher, who taught fourth grade at Hillside Elementary school. Eugene was still pretty clumsy, and sometimes got made fun of for it, just as when they were kids, but he was a lot more aware of his surroundings and tried hard to pay attention to what he was doing.

Sid and Stinky lived down in Miami, since they wanted to escape city life and live it big on the beaches of Florida. They were roommates, living in a rental beach house, and also each had a girlfriend. Sid was a professional photographer, who was often hired on commission to take photos of families or for ads, whatever kind of work he could get his hands on. Stinky grew pumpkins and other kinds of vegetables and fruit, and sold them at one of the organic markets in town. He grew great pumpkins, that especially boomed business at the market he worked at during Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Lila had eventually gotten together with Arnold's cousin, Arnie, when she graduated high school, and then attended in his hometown. They got married a year after graduating college. They lived back in her hometown of Pleasantville, on their own farm. On the side of farming, Lila also worked at a local bookstore, and Arnie worked as a mechanic. He had gotten into cars and mechanics in high school, and had taken Auto Mechanics and Engineering in college, and really had quite a knack for it. Lila had taken agricultural studies, as well as literature, since she enjoyed reading a lot. Arnie was a lot less mellow and strange, and had some more friends and was actually an interesting person once you got to know him. It was such a strange transformation from what Brainy remembered.

Not to mention he couldn't help but laugh at the fact that the girl Arnold once crushed on, back in their original life, was now his cousin by marriage!

Who knew everyone else had their own little happy ending in all of this... It made Brainy feel a little less guilty. Of course, nothing was going to stop him from giving up this wonderful new life where had Helga, not when it was presented to him on a silver platter practically, but it did make it easier not to have to live with guilt on his shoulders.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder if Arnold was...unhappy. He didn't seem to be entirely unhappy, but he wasn't entirely happy, either. There was just something off about it all. And it wasn't just Ruth's apathetic behaviour, either. It was as if something was missing. Brainy didn't quite miss the fact that it was implied that Arnold had given up a lot when he married Ruth. Of course, in life and even in marriage, there were times you did have to sacrifice things, and it was natural to feel pretty sad about them, but the rewards would always blossom and make you realize what good decisions you made. Could that be what happened, and he was just missing it? Or was there really a sense of him having to give up his dreams and goals, and he was just falling deeper and deeper into an endless pit he couldn't get out of? Was he unhappy? Did he love Ruth? Moreover, did _Ruth_ love him? Was their marriage on the rocks? Were there problems he didn't know about?

Something about all of this made Brainy feel uneasy. Both in sympathy, since he didn't want anything bad to happen to Arnold, and not even Ruth either, and at the same time he felt a light stab of guilt. Was it his fault? Had he ruined Arnold's chances at true love by preventing him to be in a relationship with Helga, just as he had been back in the "original timeline?

Shaking his head, Brainy decided to shrug it off. Maybe it was nothing. Arnold was probably just a bit stressed out with school work and having a baby on the way or financial problems. As for Ruth, he wasn't sure what to say about her.

He had to stop worrying.

Brainy stepped into his apartment, coming to find his wife sitting on the couch watching the news, already changed into some casual clothing, consisting of an oversized Dino Land t-shirt, and blue slacks, along with no shoes or socks. She looked up and smiled, waving the remote at him.

"Hey. Good day at work?" Helga enquired.

"Yes, I did have a good day." Brainy put his bag down, taking off his shoes, then joining her on the couch. "Pretty tough at times, but definitely worth it. I look forward to working that job one day."

"That's the spirit." Helga playfully punched him in the arm, and leaned her elbow against the back of the couch. "So tell me, how's ol' Arnold?"

"He's fine." Brainy replied, trying to mask the tension he was feeling. He studied her carefully, looking for _any_ signs at all that could lead to Helga's...old feelings. But no, there were none. At least he hoped not. She was jut asking a casual query about someone and was curious. Nothing more. Nothing less. "I have to admit though, there is something a bit off about his wife. You know, Ruth McDougal, who was two grades ahead of us?"

"No way! He's married to Ruth McDougal? I never would've guessed." Helga said in surprise. He searched for jealousy, envy, anything, but again found nothing. She was just shocked. "Wow. Well, how is she doing? Being pregnant and all."

"Actually, she seems to be very apathetic about it." Brainy decided to just be honest about it, because lying would backfire, he had a good feeling it would. He just hoped she wouldn't interpret it as leeway to chase after Arnold. No wait, what was he saying? Helga didn't love him! There was no chance of that. "I don't know why. It's as if she doesn't care. I understand pregnant women do get tired and have their set of mood swings, but honestly, it was unlike anything I'd ever seen before."

"So, it seemed like she was more dealing with it because she had no choice as opposed to embracing it?" Helga guessed. "Still, I can't say I'm surprised. Ruth was always a bit of a spoiled airhead who didn't care about anything except for her hair. But I didn't know her personally, so I wouldn't know."

"Same here." Brainy agreed. "I mean, I did have to work with her today, and Arnold's mother as well, so I did get a little taste of things. But during the ultrasound, Ruth just didn't seem to care about the baby's image on the screen. Now, I've seen that procedure in my practice several times, it's nothing new to me. But every time I do, I can't help but feel such a warm feeling in my heart at seeing the miracle of life. I can understand why expecting mothers and their husbands seem to just love their baby before its even born. I did see it in Arnold, I could tell he really loved their child, and was eager for her to born. Yeah, they're having a girl. Ruth on the other hand, like I said, just didn't seem interested at all. I've seen women who normally don't like to show emotion, express pure and genuine happiness upon seeing their babies on the screen during ultrasounds."

"Either Ruth's got some serious mood swings, or she's really unhappy." Helga shook her head. "That's a shame. I guess they must be going through a rough time, I take it?"

"That's what I thought too. I think maybe it could be that they have some financial troubles, maybe stress from work, with the baby on the way, and whatnot. So I could be just misjudging."

"Well you are an excellent judge of character." Helga said. "Sometimes you hit the nail right on the head."

"It pays to be a listener." Brainy chuckled.

"But you do talk more now. I like that. But I also like it when you listen."

Brainy smiled and leaned in to kiss her gently, feeling his heart jump as she kissed him back. He pretty much forgot what they were talking about and was completely focused on her. How could he have tried to let this wonderful woman go in his previous life? He knew he was partially to blame since he never really made much of a move on her or made an attempt to socialize with her. But that was his old life. This was his new life.

Helga was happy, and that was what mattered. As a bonus, she was happy with _him_. Brainy. Plain old Brian J. Williams. She was happy with him, plain and simple, and he was all the more happy for it. This was what he was missing, and never was he going to let it go ever again.

Helga G. Williams was his wife now, and he loved her all the more, and she loved him too.

They parted, and he stroked his fingers through her hair. Oh, that soft golden hair... The way her blue eyes looked into his, like twin pools, so beautiful... She was nothing short of a Goddess. A beautiful Goddess.

"I love you Helga." Brainy said softly, feeling his heart swell as it sank in once more, that he was here with Helga, for real, and in love with him right back.

"I love you too, Brainy." Helga hugged him, sighing happily. It had been a while since she called him that. "Always and forever, my angel."

Despite that her sweet words were directed at him, Brainy couldn't help but feel a stab of a blast from the past, back when those words were meant for someone else.

"_Arnold my love, know that you will forever hold my heart in your hand... I love you, always and forever, my angel..."_

Shaking his head, he hugged Helga to him and rubbed her back, inhaling her sweet vanilla scent, mixed with lavender.

He had to stop worrying. Nothing was going to change. Nothing was going to happen to break them apart. They were husband and wife know. She was his, and he was hers.

And he was not going to do anything to change it.

But what was this strange feeling in his gut?

"Hungry?" Helga pulled back, kissed his cheek, and got up from the couch. "I thought we could have some soup and grilled cheese for dinner tonight. I don't feel much like cooking anything big, anyway."

"Sounds good." Brainy nodded, getting up too. "I'll help you."

Helga did do most of the cooking, and she was a great cook. Brainy knew how to cook, and was fairly good himself and perfectly capable of making his own meals, it was Helga who took over the kitchen most of the time. Yes, sometimes Brainy would do it, and they would even cook together when he'd help her out or she would help him out. Either way was fine. He never complained about it.

The phone rang then, and Brainy was about to answer it, but Helga, who happened to be standing closest to it, answered it before he could.

"Hello, this is Helga G. Williams, attorney of law. Talk to me." She said, thinking it was probably Phoebe.

Brainy reminded himself to get a phone with caller ID for the kitchen as he went back to getting some bread from one of the cabinets, but when Helga voiced the name of the caller, he stopped in his tracks and his gaze snapped to her so fast he thought he may have cracked his neck.

"You again, Arnold?" She said playfully into the phone. "Well hey, what's up?" She listened a few moments. "Oh, Brian forgot his wallet in your mom's office? Oh damn, and he had no idea! Well thanks for calling about it Arnold, that was really nice of you. Didn't take anything from it, did you?" She laughed at this. "Well okay, maybe he can-...huh? Oh, sure! No problem, you can bring it over. When? Heh, you don't waste time, do you? All right, we're home now, we live on 473 Roosevelt Avenue, in the Roosevelt Condos, our unit is under Williams, number 912. Just buzz us on the intercom and we'll let you in. ...Okay, see you later Arnold, and thank you again!" Helga hung the phone up. "Well well, Mr. Brainiac forgot his wallet! His mother found it in her office, and asked if he could bring it over to you, since she had to fill in for another doctor tonight."

Brainy blushed, feeling a little dumb that he had actually forgotten his wallet like that. But he was fortunate to have lost it in Stella's office. "Yeah, I guess that was pretty dumb of me. But at least they were the ones who found it."

"Indeed, you silly moron." Helga playfully teased, kissing his cheek. "C'mon, let's get dinner going, he'll be here in about twenty minutes."

"Yes Ma'am." Brainy chuckled, getting the bread out for her.

XXX

Later on, right on schedule...give or take a couple of minutes, Arnold buzzed them on the intercom, and Brainy let him in. He did have a tense feeling, wondering if something was going to spring back up and hit him in the face. Was their encounter from earlier that day really nothing more than innocent interaction, or was there something more? He still didn't know.

But what now? Arnold was coming to their _home _now. He knew where they lived. Now granted, it was purely for an altruistic gesture, so he had nothing to worry about.

Did he?

He had no time to think about it when a knock came to their door. Both he and Helga went to answer it to Arnold, who smiled at them in greeting and handed over Brainy's wallet.

"Thanks very much for bringing it over, Arnold. I really appreciate it." Brainy told him sincerely.

"No problem Brian, it was my pleasure." Arnold smiled. "Always glad to help out others when they need it."

"Guess he was lucky to have left it in your mom's office!" Helga remarked. "But really, thanks a lot again. Not a lot of people would be courteous enough to return it. At least not without taking the money in it first."

"No, I would never do that, no matter how broke I was." Arnold said, looking at her then.

"Good to know there are good people in this world. In my line of work I sure encounter some people you just want to throw into Arkham Asylum from the _Batman_ franchise!"

Arnold laughed at this, and Brainy did too. He couldn't get enough of Helga's sense of humour, it was often sarcastic and witty, but genuine and fun.

"Whatever you say Mrs.-I mean, Helga." Arnold chuckled and shook her hand again. "You guys take care, okay?"

"You too, Arnold. Thanks again." Helga smiled.

Brainy felt his heart drop.

There was _chemistry_ between them.

And there was no denying it then.


	7. Motionless

**All righty, now there is going to be a very tragic element in this chapter. It was hard for me to do, it was. But...as I thought about it and considered it, especially through a second pair of eyes, I knew it would work.**

**I want to thank my awesome friend and fellow Hey Arnold author One Fine Wire, who offered me this idea for this rather tragic element. Her feedback and opinions as well as suggestions have always been an immense help to me. Thank you, buddy!**

**And gosh, I am SO surprised you guys caught onto the lack of chemistry between Brainy and Helga. XD I don't know if it's because of my dispassion for the pair (no offence to fans of the pairing) or if subconsciously I was actually writing their chemistry down. Because honestly, I HAVE tried to display something between them. **

**It didn't work, did it? Man, I suck. XD I guess deep down I was holding back.**

**Oh well!**

**Anyway, enjoy what's to come. And again, there's something sad in there...get your tissues ready. **

**Oh yes, and I made some references to Stephen King's **_**The Langoliers**_**, the movie version...since I still have yet to read the book.**

XXX

For the past three months, Brainy's mind was an absolute blur. He just couldn't think straight, no matter how hard he tried.

There was so much going on by now. The outside world did well to distract him, but when he was relaxed, and took the time to think, he couldn't. It would all hit him in the face. _Everything_.

Try as he may, he couldn't shake it off if he wanted to. He knew what he did, he knew what he was doing, and he knew what was going to happen. And yet, mystery still lay out within. But there was enough to punch him between the eyes. Enough to make him know what it was going to come down to, if things continued the way they were. Brainy could see, that he was..._selfish_. Something he never considered himself to be. All along he claimed that all was fine, that there was happiness to be found. That he deserved what he had now.

But there was a part of him that said he didn't. That part of him told him what a stupid mistake this was. How selfish he was. How idiotic he was. He was practically screwing with time. It was as if he had walked in Stephen King's _The Langoliers_, where you entered a time rift...and faced the destructive, meant to be unseen consequences of time travel. Brainy should have known this. You couldn't go back to 1963 and attempt to stop the assassination of President Kennedy. You couln't go back to when the Egyptians built the pyramids. You couldn't even go back to the dawning of the dinosaurs, and find the conclusive answers to when they walked the earth.

He was in a whole new timeline, combining elements of the past, and the future. The butterfly effect, only to face the consequences sooner, skipping over the present and going to the future.

Brainy could see the consequences clearly. Most especially, in his own wife. Helga was missing something in her life. She had no idea what it was. She had confided in him of it, some weeks ago. It wasn't out of sadness or resentment or horror, she was merely curious of what it meant.

XX

"_I mean, I just don't get it, Brian. I'm happy with my life! I'm a kick ass powerful attorney of law, I have some pretty good friends, a great condo, a great city to live in, a fairly good family that have worked hard in turning around...and then, well, you of course. My husband, my love, holder of my heart." Helga smiled, drinking her coffee. "I don't know what could possibly be missing. Honestly. I don't get it."_

"_...How long have you felt this way?" Brainy asked cautiously._

"_I don't even know." Helga shrugged. "For as long as I could remember, I guess. I always felt like something was there for me, waiting. But I never knew what it was."_

"_Well..." Brainy took a swig of his inhaler. His nervousness and anxiety were making it harder for him to breathe. "You always did...have a goal to travel the world, to see places. You never had much chance to do that."_

"_Brian, even I know I can't do that now." Helga said. "Maybe that's it, I don't know. Maybe I'll know when I see it. Still, it would be cool to travel, but I don't have time for that now! You finished medical school, and that's great, you just need to complete the program at the hospital and become the doctor you always wanted. And you need to work there at least a year or two as much as you can, because I think whisking off away on vacation so soon after starting isn't going to be very professional." She frowned at this. "But like I said, we'll travel when we can. We just can't do that now."_

"_Helga, I... I don't want you to feel that I'm holding you back." Brainy murmured. "If not being able to travel upsets you, you should-"_

"_Cool it, Brainy." Helga told him, touching his hand. "Sure I'm bummed my work and your work can't quite provide us with traveling right now, but we can't worry about that! We'll just take it when we can. 'Kay? So don't worry. Whenever we can travel, and whatever it is I'm missing, if there even IS anything, I'll figure it out."_

_Brainy gave a small nod, and went to drinking his coffee, as Helga looked over the newspaper. He felt a stab of pain in his heart. Not just for him, but for her too._

_He knew what was missing in her life._

_And it wasn't just traveling the world._

XX

Brainy knew. He knew it all. Not just from the knowledge of an outsider in a new world.

But it was as if it were common sense. He'd wanted to deny it, to push it away, to not bring in the guilt, the anxiety, the paranoia...all of it. But Brainy knew there was no running from it. It was obvious. The moment he saw it, it was right there. Even if Helga didn't know it.

There was something missing in Helga's life.

Or rather..._someone_.

She didn't even know it. Of course she didn't. She had himself to distract her. She had her happy life to distract her. It all held her back from searching deep into what she was feeling. Her life, though not huge and luxurious full of mountains of money, was well and happy, she didn't need anything else. It was why she had no idea what she truly wanted, what she was missing all along.

It never left. It was always there.

Brainy knew it very well now. He had tried to hide, but nothing could mask it.

There was no question.

Even in this timeline, Arnold was her true love. Even in a life of not having him in her life. Even in a life where she fell in love with someone else, namely him. Even in a life where she lived well, and ended up with a very happy and content life and job she loved. Even in a life where he offered her everything he could, all the love she deserved, with no holding back, or repressed feelings that took seven years to resurface.

It was plain and simple. Arnold was, and always would be, her true love. There was a void in her heart that only he could fill. Brainy could give her all the gold in China, and it wouldn't compare to the love she felt.

She was happy in her life here, but she was missing something. And that was Arnold. She didn't even know it. Her life and everything in it was there to distract her.

Brainy didn't even know what to do. And yet, he knew...that he had to do the right thing. But how? It wouldn't be that simple. There was so much involved, he couldn't just flip a switch and make everything as it should've been. Could've been. Would've been.

Sometimes he couldn't sleep at night. He'd have nightmares. Restless nights. It was consuming him slowly.

But nothing seemed to hit him more, than what hit him tonight.

It was 3:30 in the morning, and Brainy was just dozing off. Another night of nightmares, and being awake for half an hour. He was finally getting to sleep, but that was when Helga suddenly sat up in bed, so abruptly he could've sworn it occurred in half a second. Maybe even less. She didn't yell, she didn't scream, she didn't even do anything. She just stared straight ahead, wide-eyed, her chest heaving as her breathing seemed to slow and quicken all at once.

Pushing everything aside, Brainy rolled over to looked at her, sitting up a little bit. "Helga? ...Helga, what's wrong?"

Helga didn't answer him for a few moments, she just stared ahead, and brushed some of her hair from her face, and held a hand to her chest, looking at the bedcovers, and then straight ahead once more. "...Brian, I have a really bad feeling right now. I...I can't explain it, but I just...I have a _really_ bad feeling. I don't know why. It's hard to explain."

Brainy frowned, wondering what this was about. Even he couldn't deduce what could have been wrong. What was going on? What was her bad feeling? What did it relate to? He couldn't even think of an explanation for it. Not at all. He was completely clueless as to what was wrong.

But before he could think of it further, his private hospital cell phone, which was sitting on the bedside table on his side of the bed, then vibrated. It was in the middle of being charged, and was over halfway through. The hospital was calling, there was an emergency.

Quickly, Brainy grabbed it and answered it. "Hello?"

"Brian...oh Brian thank goodness!" Came the panicked, yet relieved voice of Stella on the other line. "We...we need your help! My daughter-in-law Ruth is in labour, and it's...it's not looking very good at all. Dr. Hobson and Dr. Maxwell's assistants are both unavailable right now and we need all the help we can get! I don't normally help to operate on family, but I know I have no choice. You have worked in the maternity department, right?"

"Y-Yes, I have Dr. Short-"

"Then can you please come down and help us? We need your help, we have to perform a Caesarian procedure, the baby is stuck and we believe that the umbilical cord may have wrapped around her neck. Please, hurry!"

Brainy threw the covers off him, with Helga looking to him in confusion. Despite everything happening, he could never turn away from work, and especially not like this. He would never wish this kind of thing on anyone, and especially not Arnold or Ruth. "All right Dr. Shortman, don't worry, I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Thank you Brian, _thank you. _Hurry, please!" Was all Stella said before she hung up.

Putting his phone back down, Brainy turned on his lamp, and then quickly went to his drawers, hurrying to change into some clothes.

"Brian? Honey, what's going on?" Helga asked, worried.

"It's Ruth, she's in labour and they have to perform a C-section, since the baby is stuck and might have the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. They're operating and they need my help."

"Oh my God!" Helga immediately got out of bed. "I'll go with you."

"Helga it's okay, this doesn't concern you, you go back to bed and I'll be back when-"

"No. You listen to me, buster!" Helga immediately came to him, stern and determined. "I'm going with you, and I'm going to try to help out, and to be there as support. This is childbirth, Brian. You're a man, you don't know. I'm going with you and that's that."

Brainy opened his mouth to argue, but he knew better. When Helga made up her mind, she was going to stick it through to the end. "All right Helga, get dressed and we'll get going."

They got dressed as quick as they could, and Helga brushed out her hair, but didn't have much time to put any makeup on, not that it mattered by now. Brainy quickly put his shoes on, Helga followed suit, and he grabbed his car keys and bag, while Helga threw her coat on. Brainy led them to the elevator, so they could descend to the underground garage.

"Helga, do you think this might have been the bad feeling you had?" Brainy asked, wondering if maybe that could be it.

Helga was silent for a moment, probably gathering her thoughts, before she answered him. "I don't know...it could be. Especially since I woke up just moments before the phone rang. Like I said, I can't explain what it was or where it even stemmed from."

His hypothesis was a good guess, but even he wasn't so sure about that. Nothing was coming to mind at all, as to what she seemed to have a bad feeling about. But he hoped it had nothing to do with the situation at hand,

Otherwise, that would end up becoming a terrible fate he would never wish upon anyone.

This was going to be a very long night.

XXX

Brainy had witnessed one or two deliveries via Caesarian surgery, and even though he was near completion of the program, and was supposed to be a trained professional in handling mostly any kind of procedure and its protocols, he did come to find it hard to sit through. There was blood, so much blood, even the sight of the rat tails of the small intestines.

Stella, along with Dr. Hobson, a doctor named Ray Fields, and Brainy's own supervisor Dr. Maxwell, were all operating on Ruth, who was put to sleep for the procedure.

It turned out, that she had gone into labour at around 3:30 yesterday afternoon, having fairly strong contractions, as well as her water breaking. Her due date was around February 26th, which was the day they had planned to induce labour if needed. It was a couple of days early right now, February 22nd. The baby was indeed stuck, they found out, because of the fact that her head was too big (quite obviously), and that she was also on a strange angle. The umbilical cord had also gotten wrapped around her neck, and combined with the birthing complications, it didn't look like the baby was going to make it. Ruth had been in labour for nearly twelve hours, but when there was no success, and the suspicion the baby was stuck, that was when they decided to operate on her.

It was now 3:21, and while Brainy simply helped with the simple things, almost acting as a nurse, he still got to witness the rather graphical image of birth via a C-section. Something you normally didn't witness except in hospital-themed movies and TV shows. The surgery procedures that the patients didn't see. It was fascinating, and yet at the same time made Brainy want to double over and throw up.

But he didn't dare. They needed his help, and he was going to do just that. He was an adult, he was training more and more to become a doctor, he had to live through this and not wimp out. It was not the time for that. The baby was possibly dying, and they had to do all they could to help get it out safely, so that both she and Ruth would not die.

Brainy sincerely with all his heart hoped that this would work and the baby would be all right. He was maybe dismayed at the fact that he was yet again in competition, whether Helga knew it or not, for her love, but he would never let his personal feelings get in the way of his job. And it wasn't that he hated Arnold for it either, it wasn't his fault. It was the way things were. A major bummer, not to mention a punch between the eyes in how selfish he was, and nothing more.

Even so, now was not the time for that. He had a job to do. They all did.

Helga was in a room that Stella had reserved, to keep Arnold and his father company and offer her support. Brainy had been hesitant, but had no choice. Ruth and her family were also old-fashioned, not having the man there to witness the birth. That seemed odd to Brainy. Wouldn't Ruth, in her most painful and vulnerable state, want her husband by her side? Sure, some women chose not to let their husbands witness, but often enough, both partners were usually present during the birth, be it through natural birth or C-section.

Come to think of it, where were her parents? Why weren't they here to witness their daughter giving birth to their grandchild? Okay, in all fairness there was probably some kind of a scheduling issue or delay, maybe they were out of town, who knew. He certainly didn't know. What was going on? Didn't that seem to be a big kick in the face? Why? Were there really problems involving delays, or was Ruth in bad blood with her family? If she was, then why?

Brainy shook his head, as he quickly handed Stella surgical instrument after surgical instrument from the pack, his eyes, now with prescription goggles to protect his eyes, drifted from the surgical scene before him, to the doctors, and to the tray holding the surgical pack. They had now finally broke through, and made it to the womb, where Stella and Dr. Maxwell were now removing the baby, very slowly and carefully. Neither of them spoke, except to give instruction, as they went along with the procedure. From what he could see, the baby was motionless, and although the umbilical cord had been removed from around her neck, there was no movement whatsoever. This worried him.

Finally, at long last, the baby was safely removed from the womb, and Stella carefully took the baby girl aside to check her over and clean her up, while the other doctors began to proceed cleaning up their mess and to sew Ruth back up. Brainy helped along, and then was called over by Stella.

Brainy looked at the motionless baby laying on the table to cleaned, and as he saw before, there was no movement. Her eyes were closed, with no sign of life at all. He looked at Stella, feeling his heart wrench as the truth settled to him. "...She's dead, isn't she."

Stella gave a nod, tears in her eyes. "I think she was dead before we even made it to her. ...She didn't make it, Brian. She's a stillborn."

At that, Brainy just wanted to cry. For the loss of an innocent, beautiful child who didn't even have one second to live. For Miles and Stella's loss of their first grandchild. For the loss of Arnold and Ruth, for their first child. Especially Arnold...this was going to destroy him. Ruth, she was definitely human, there was no way she would simply brush it off as nothing.

There was nothing worse than losing your child. Especially like this.

"I'm so sorry, Dr. Shortman." Brainy said sincerely. "I...I did what I could to help, we all did. I'm very sorry we couldn't save her."

"It was not your fault, Brian. We all did our best. What happened was not our fault. It was just...just...complications..." Stella had tears going down her eyes. "Oh Brian, this will break Arnold's heart...he was so excited to be a father, he wanted so much to see his baby girl... I...I don't know how to tell him..."

"...I'll tell him." Brainy said. He knew he couldn't do this, he couldn't tell Arnold or Ruth. But he had to. Stella just couldn't do it now. "...I feel it should come from an unbiased third party."

Holding back a sob, Stella nodded. "All right. Thank you, Brian. We will clean up and get her ready, so that they can see her...if they want to. ...By the way, her name was going to be Francesca. Francesca Marie."

Brainy gave a small smile behind his mask. "...That's a lovely name." He said honestly.

"It is." Stella agreed, and seemed to be smiling too.

With a quick nod, Brainy took off his gloves, tossing them into the trash, left the room, and took off his mask. This was not going to be easy. Breaking such bad news was never easy. No doctor enjoyed doing it. They hated looking like the bad guy giving the bad news. Sure, they were trained professionals and did it all the time, but they were only human. They didn't like making the patients or their families feel sad. But lying was not an option either.

He had to tell them the truth. It wasn't going to be easy, but he had to.

_After all, it's all my fault things turned out this way._ Brainy thought, heading to the private room.


	8. Beginnings of Proper Closure

**Well people, here's...part of the stuff you have all been waiting for! I know your minds are buzzing with questions right now. X3**

"**How will Ruth react?"**

"**Is Arnold going to cry?"**

"**What's Brainy going to do now?"**

"**Where the heck are Ruth's parents?"**

"**Hey! You named the baby after Helga's voice actress!"**

**XD Yes, I did. I wanted to make it a connection to Helga that was subtle. :D Francesca Marie Smith, you are awesome. X3**

**I should also mention that some of the inspiration for the stillborn bit comes from One Fine Wire, as I mentioned before, since she was the one who suggested the idea to me, and also from her own fanfiction "Still"**

**Also, I want to add that when I was born, it was via a C-section. My mother was in labour with me for eighteen hours, and it turned out that I was stuck at a strange angle, and because my head was too big. (Not football-shaped, mind you XD) So they had to put her to sleep and then do a C-section. So I incorporated some of that in there. And no, I did not get my umbilical cord tied around my neck, I just threw that in here to add to it.**

**Oh yes, and Arnold brings in...the sexy cry! What's the sexy cry? Well, it's one of the Nostalgia Critic's mentions on his video of the Top 11 Coolest Movie Cliches, and one of them is what he calls, the sexy cry. When a single tear falls down a character's face, while the rest of their face shows no emotion. Now I know Arnold never cried in the series, but if he did, I bet you it would be the sexy cry! ...Well, before he would actually cry. XD**

XXX

Brainy tried to maintain being professional and aloof, but also didn't want to give false hope. More than anything, as he stood in the small private room the three of them were waiting, he wanted to cry. Both Arnold and Miles were looking at him expectantly, as did Helga, who stood up next to Arnold. But Brainy kept cool, and managed speak.

"Arnold..." Brainy took off his goggles, and put his glasses back on. "I'm afraid that your baby didn't make it. She died from strangulation of the umbilical cord around her neck, and having been stuck at a strange angle. We performed a Caesarian, but I'm afraid she was dead before we even got to her. ...Your mother is cleaning her up right now, and they are closing up Ruth. You can go and see them in a little while. ...I...I'm _very_ sorry, Arnold. We all tried our best." That wasn't the only thing he was apologizing for.

It took a moment for it to sink in, but within less than a minute, Brainy saw the colour drain from Arnold's face, and the poor man looked _destroyed._ A single tear ran down his cheek, his eyes filling with pure sadness and pain, as no word nor sound came from him. Miles sat back down, hanging his head as if praying, also not uttering a word. Even Helga looked completely distraught, as if it were her own loss as well. But Brainy knew better. It wasn't just the loss itself.

Whether Helga knew it or not, whatever world they seemed to live in, her connection to Arnold never changed. They were soulmates, in every definition of the word, despite that neither of them knew it consciously. When he was sad, she was sad. He filled the void in her heart that no one else could, bringing along with it a connection Brainy saw to be stronger than he could have ever imagined. He had known of this connection before, in the original timeline but had underestimated it. Only now to find it was far stronger than before, if possible. When they didn't have what they did before.

It was completely quiet in the room, and after some more moments, more tears streamed down Arnold's face, and then Helga stepped over to him, bringing her arms around him in a comforting hug. He didn't object to it at all, and hugged her back, embracing her tightly. Whether it was from the need of support from such a horrid loss, or because he needed her more than he thought and didn't know it, or both, Arnold held her tightly, crying as silently as someone could ever cry. He didn't sob, he didn't sniffle, he didn't choke, nothing.

For a brief moment, Brainy couldn't help but find it a little bit comical to see that Arnold was actually taller than Helga by now. Sure, she was around 5'8"-5'9", which was tall for a woman, but it wasn't surprising considering that her father was very tall, and her mother was nearly as tall as he was, and Olga, around the same height as her mother, met to the same genes. Arnold had definitely inherited his father's tall genes, and was probably around six-foot something. Having remembered their childhood days of when Helga always towered over Arnold, and actually most of the kids, especially the other girls, in their class.

But even that didn't help this tragic situation. By now, Brainy didn't even care that his own wife was hugging another man, despite that there was nothing lewd about it in any way, or that it was the man she didn't even know was her true love. Frankly, they both deserved it right now. The loss hit her hard as well, and it showed. If someone who knew neither of them were to look at them now, they would swear they were the ones who lost their first child.

"Arnold..." Helga spoke to him softly, raising her head from his chest, and leaning up to his ear. Despite that she was crying herself, she managed to gather enough strength to speak. "It's all going to be okay. Your baby girl may never open her eyes, may never live the life she dearly deserves, may never know her parents...but she will always be with you in spirit. She'll be in a better place, watching over you and Ruth, and your families and friends. She'll always be your first. She's going to be missed, but she'll never be forgotten. She's going to have a special place in your hearts, where she'll always be, no matter what."

A breath escaped Arnold, as one hand came up to gently stroke her hair. Helga didn't care, she just lay her head on his shoulder, sobbing softly. "Her name was... is Francesca... That was going to be her name."

"Francesca..." Helga repeated, and hugged him tighter. Her voice was breaking. It began to break Brainy's heart, he hadn't seen her so sad like this in such a long time. "Francesca may be gone Arnold, but she'll be with you. Always. In your heart. She'll be your first child, and she'll be your special wonder baby. Though her eyes will never open, her spirit remains, as what it was to be. Never forget her, and her memory shall live on."

Miles, who'd stayed quiet throughout Helga's motivational speech, stood up and patted his son on the back lightly. "She's right, son. ...Little Francie didn't get to make it, but that doesn't meant she won't be our first, and she'll always live on in our hearts."

"...Thanks, Helga." Was all Arnold could muster, but it said everything. Neither of them spoke any further as they embraced, crying softly as the loss was absorbed within them.

This was when Brainy decided to leave them alone to grieve, and felt as if he were truly the doctor looking in on a grieving family. Despite the circumstances at hand, of course. He offered a few words of sympathy, before he exited the room, closing the door behind him.

Something had to be done about this. His own selfish desires had just cost the happiness of innocent people, and cost the life of an innocent child.

If Brainy knew then, what he knew now, would he have still taken the wish? Would he have gone through with it, if he had known that there would be a price to pay?

That was still a tough question to answer by this point.

XXX

A couple of hours had passed, when Ruth was finally waking up and recovering from the operation. Arnold was by now by her bedside, while Stella stood by, with the body of Francesca inside of a hospital bassinet. Brainy also stood near them, observing. It was going to be a painful experience having to actually face the fallen body of their dead child, but it was all part of the process in the closure they needed.

"...Arnold, where's the baby?" Ruth questioned, since she had no idea what was going on.

Arnold looked at her sadly, before turning to his mother. Stella looked at him a moment, and then turned to Brainy, and she nodded. Brainy nodded in return before he approached Ruth's bedside, adjusting his glasses. The auburn-haired woman sat up in her bed, slowly, looking at Brainy with hazed, tired, and worried eyes.

"Ms. McDougal..." He knew from Ruth's medical file that she kept her maiden name, and he didn't feel right about addressing her by her first name, since he really didn't know her that well. "I'm afraid that your daughter passed away. Despite our best efforts to remove her from the womb via a Caesarian procedure, she did not make it. She was dead before we even made it to her. As stated before, the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck, resulting in a strangulation, and she was at a strange angle because of the size and shape of her head, due to the birthing complications you had faced. I am very sorry, we tried our best. We brought Francesca here to be with you, and we can take photos for you, and arrange for a proper burial. If...by chance, and this is only for informative purposes, if you decide to try for another child, you will need at least six weeks to recover from the surgery. And then another few weeks after that, a couple of months at the most, before you try again if you wish to."

A few moments passed, and needless to say, Ruth's reaction was a surprise, and yet at the same time, it was almost expected, given the general reactions of women who faced this.

Ruth's brown eyes filled with tears, and almost immediately she broke down, burying her face in her hands. Loud, brokenhearted sobs filled the room. Arnold sat carefully on the bed next to his wife, bringing her close and holding her. Ruth sobbed into his shirt, clinging to him tightly.

Stella carefully brought the bassinet to them, touching Brainy's shoulder in thanks as she passed him, and brought the stillborn baby to them.

"Would you still like to hold her?" She questioned them softly.

Ruth nodded wordlessly, reaching for her daughter. Stella gently took Francesca out of the bassinet, and carefully handed her to her mother. Ruth gently cradled Francesca, still crying as she gazed down at her. Arnold, though still crying, had a tiny smile on his lips. As if trying to look at the bright side.

Brainy felt tears now going down his face, and he wiped them with his sleeve. It was hard on all of them, and even Ruth. She wasn't inhuman, he knew that much, but it was still quite a turn to see her so distraught and brokenhearted over the loss of her first child. It just went to show that even the worst of tragedies could bring out the heart of an apathetic person.

"She's beautiful." Ruth sniffled. "She...she has my hair."

"Maybe she would've had your eyes." Arnold murmured. But they would never know, since the baby's eyes would never open. "And your keen eye for style."

"...No, she would've been like you. Smart, fun, interesting, warm, caring..." Ruth murmured, looking up at him for a moment, and then back down at their daughter. "Franny... I'm sorry."

A stunned silence filled the room, that simple apology Ruth stated just said everything that was needed to be said, on her part at least. She knew what she had to apologize for, and that apology just said it all. Not to mention the shame and regret that came with it, since it was too late. Too late to truly fix everything. And Ruth knew it, Arnold knew it, everyone knew it.

Stella gave Ruth a smile, assuring her that it was all right, before she cleared her throat. "If you two would need a little help..." She looked to Brainy, and nodded to him once more.

"Oh, right. Well," Brainy wiped his glasses with a cloth and put them back on. "if you two need help in getting this through, as well as arrangements for a funeral, memorial service and whatnot, we have teams of specialists who deal with couples who lose their children upon birth. They will help you with everything you need."

Arnold wiped his eyes, giving Brainy a thankful smile. "We'll...we'll do that, Brian. Dr. Williams." He said.

Even though Brainy wasn't quite a doctor entirely, it was kind of flattering to hear it, despite that he felt he didn't deserve it.

"You're welcome." Brainy murmured, and looked to Stella. She nodded as well.

"We'll leave you two alone for a bit, and we'll all make sure you receive the proper closure you need." Stella assured them.

"...Thank you Stella, Dr. Williams." Ruth murmured, looking to them both.

Brainy and Stella left the room, both of them exhaling heavily. Looking at his watch, it was now 7:30 in the morning. Helga was sitting outside the room, reading a magazine, looking haggard and tired, with her hair in a half-ass ponytail and looking ready to fall asleep. She saw them come out, and stood up, yawning a bit.

"Hey. How are they doing?" She questioned.

"It hit them pretty hard." Brainy murmured. "But on a bright note, they are getting the closure they need, and we recommended them to the specialists here in the hospital, who deal with couples with stillborn babies. They're going to take care of everything needed and give Francesca a proper memorial service and a funeral."

"It's...it's going to take a lot of adjusting." Stella murmured, wiping her tears. "But, we're all in this together and we're going to do our best to make it work. Thank you, Brian and Helga, for coming tonight. It really helped so much."

"You're welcome, Dr. Shortman. We wanted to help." Helga gave a tired, but genuine smile. "Your husband went to the cafeteria to get some coffee."

"Thank you, I'll go join him." Stella gave her a hug. "And thank you for offering your support."

"Anytime. Happy to help."

As Stella headed off down the hall, Brainy kissed Helga's forehead and looked her in the eye. "Go home, Helga. You need some rest if you're going to make it to work."

"I called in an hour ago, I'm taking the day off." She said, shaking her head.

"That's really nice of you Helga, and it's been great you were here to offer your support, but really, this doesn't entirely concern you. Go home, get some sleep. You need to take a break."

"Brian, I can't just leave now. I...I can't explain it, I don't know what it is, but I _need_ to be here for now. Maybe it doesn't entirely concern me, I know, but I want to be here."

Brainy gave a sigh, once again seeing that there was no arguing with her. "All right. Go get some coffee and something to eat, I'm going to go consult with the specialists."

"All right." Helga nodded, kissing his cheek. "You're doing a great thing for them, honey. I can't even imagine what they're going through."

"You're a lawyer, you meet all kinds of different people everyday, you get to know how people act and feel in various situations. You were sweet in offering comfort like you were, it's not often you do that."

"Hey, I've grown a lot since my youth." She winked at him, and grew serious. "It was the least I can do to offer support."

"And you do well." He pecked her on the lips lightly, and patted her shoulders. "I'm going to go consult with the other doctors, you go back to the private room and lie down for a bit. You need to sleep. There's a phone in there, and I have my cell on vibrate in my pocket."

"All right, you win." Helga giggled. "I'll see you later then."

Brainy exhaled as he watched her head off, unable to keep his eyes from the seductive sway of her hips, the wave of her half up half down hair, and her long jean-clad legs... She truly was such a lovely woman. Having her here really did help a lot. Not just for him, but the others as well.

And he didn't deserve her. Not in the least. Not like this.

As he too headed off in the opposite direction, he couldn't help but wonder why Ruth's family didn't show up. What was up with that? It sure raised a few eyebrows, and even though it wasn't exactly his business, he was pretty curious, and wondered if maybe there was something more going on than he thought.

XXX

"Brian, I was wondering if you could do something." Dr. Maxwell spoke up, as he and Brainy exited the main office of the stillborn couple's specialists.

"Yes, Pete?" Brainy looked up at him curiously. "What is it?"

"We have been unable to get in touch with Troy and Gretchen McDougal, Ruth's parents. The last we heard, they were in Chicago on a business trip, they left around two weeks ago. She nor her husband have heard from them, and neither have his parents." Dr. Maxwell stated. "I believe they did not know of this."

"Pete, if I may, do you know if Ruth may be on...bad terms with her family?"

"That Brian, is something I am not sure of. I only know that they do not interact very often. Only Gretchen showed up for an ultrasound back when Ruth was around eight weeks along, and Troy had never showed up once when she came in for her monthly ultrasounds. Ruth only had Arnold, Miles, Stella, and her friends Connie and Maria show up for them. In fact, when Ruth was in labour, it was Stella she phoned and who had come to help her."

Brainy frowned at this. Something didn't sound right. "I see... So, what is it you need me to do?"

"I would like for you to try in contacting them periodically, once every hour or so, to make sure that they know of what occurred with Ruth and Francesca. It is important that they know of this." Dr. Maxwell said. "I left you the numbers and other contact information in your locker."

"No problem, Pete. I'll do that."

"Thank you, Brian. It is very unfortunate they had to lose their first child, and I'm sure even her parents will be devastated."

_I guess we'll find out._ Brainy thought.


	9. Bad Blood?

**Heeeyyy everyone. :D Thank you all SO MUCH for your feedback and input, this story is quite different from what I usually do, but I must say it's a very interesting journey. I have had to change a lot of ideas I had for this story, given the way it's going, but I think the way it's going to go now, is just right. I know exactly what I need to do, and I think it will flow just perfectly.**

**Another special thanks goes to One Fine Wire, for her valuable input and her excellent suggestions and ideas that have helped made this story into exactly what it should be. Thank you so much, buddy! :)**

**Anyway, without further ado, let's dive back into our alternate timeline and see just how things shall turn out yet again!**

XXX

According to the acquired information, Brainy found that Ruth's parents were business people. Successful business people, in fact. They worked for Future Tech Industries, and actually now lived in Seattle, where they worked at that city's branch of the company. Troy McDougal, Ruth's father, was head of the advertising department, and Gretchen McDougal (nee Thompson), was an executive manager.

Future Tech Industries...the FTi...

It reminded Brainy of the FTi incident way back in the original timeline, that although was set YEARS ago at this point, felt just like yesterday in his mind. When the FTI was set to tear down the neighbourhood and build a mega mall in its place. Sure, he and his family back then had lived in the further outskirts of the neighbourhood and weren't that effected by it, but it did cause a scare. Then Arnold had bravely stepped in with his friends to try to stop it. After many failed attempts, Arnold and Gerald then received Helga's help, who was under the guise of "Deep Voice", and thanks to the inside information she had because of her father and his business associate being in cahoots with Sheck.

Then there was the rooftop encounter...when Helga had finally confessed her feelings for Arnold... Brainy didn't see it first hand, obviously, he just heard of it thanks to when he had overheard the couple talking about it one time, and of course during one of her monologues.

There was the confession...that planted the seed of their love. The adventure in San Lorenzo and finding his parents, leading to him fully coming to terms with his own feelings and reciprocating hers, which provided the water and sunlight for that little seed. Before it then blossomed into what their love was to be.

As Brainy went over the file, he couldn't help but a feel the guilt eat at his gut yet again.

_Am I really doing the right thing? _Was all he could think.

Shaking his head, he got back on task. At the hospital, he had called every hour or so periodically to try to get a hold of Ruth's parents. But they never answered their phone. He left two messages on their voicemail, but that was it. Either they were completely busy and had not been able to check their messages, or...on a lesser alternative, they did get the messages, and just weren't answering them or their phone.

"Briaaann... Come to bed already. It's 11:45." Helga mock-whined from the doorway.

Brainy looked up to see his wife wearing an adorable baby doll nightgown, and felt his insides freeze. Why oh why did she have to tempt him with that?

"You've been working too hard all day. Everything will be fine." Helga came into the room and went to stand behind him, rubbing his shoulders. "Come to bed, you can deal with this tomorrow, now come on."

As much as he wanted to give in...there was a part of his mind, that was admittedly still ten years old, given that all he had were memories of this new life, not exactly first had experience he remembered thoroughly, so the idea of getting..._sexual_ was a little bit scary to him. Even if it was Helga.

"Helga, I...I can't, not tonight." Brainy managed. "I need all the sleep I can get."

The blonde woman pouted lightly, crossing her arms. "Choosing work and sleep over _me_?"

"N-No! No! I-I just...can't right now. I'd rather...we spend time like this when I can truly give all of me to you. But my mind just isn't here. I have a lot on my plate, and I feel that my...er...p-performance..." He tugged at his collar nervously. "Would be half witted and that wouldn't be fair to you. Besides, with everything that happened today, I'm not even sure if I can." _After all, I can't quite just admit that I'm a 10-year-old inside the body of a 26-year-old and have no idea if I can even come close to performing a...consummating action._

A look came to Helga's face, and she sighed, nodding in agreement. "I know what you're saying. I feel that way too. Maybe I just...wanted to try to get it all off my mind, but I can't, either. You're right, we shouldn't, not right now. I'm sorry. I just... Well, this happened Brian, I never...I never thought I would feel _this_ badly for someone I don't even know that well. I mean, of course I knew I'd feel bad since I wouldn't wish this kind of thing on _anyone_, but...I can't explain it Brian, but when I saw Arnold sad...I just, I just felt it. Right here. When he was sad, I felt sad too. Like the loss had to do with me, too. Even if it didn't. I didn't think I could offer comfort to someone like that, but...it came to me almost _naturally_, like I knew what to say. I am a lawyer, and trained to see a situation from all the angles with an analytical standpoint, but...this was extreme, Brian. I don't even know what came over me."

Just as Brainy suspected. He knew it all along. When Arnold was sad, Helga was too. It was all part of the connections that bound them together as soulmates.

_You're subconsciously in love with him._ Brainy nearly said, but didn't dare. "Trust me Helga, even I couldn't explain it. But...like I said, it was really sweet of you to do that. I'm sure he appreciated it very much."

A smile came to Helga's face. "Yeah, he did. After I took a nap in the room, and he was trying to get some time to himself, he came back to the room, and he thanked me again for what I'd done. The poor man, he's so destroyed by this. And even Ruth is distraught, which...well, proves she's human!"

A small laugh escaped Brainy. "Yes, I suppose it does."

"Did you get a hold of her parents?" Helga now pulled on a silk robe that was sitting on a chair next to the door, tying the belt tightly.

Brainy sighed, shaking his head. "No, I haven't gotten to them all day. I left them two messages, that's it. Either they're so busy that they haven't been able to answer the phone or check their messages...or there's the possibility that maybe they don't want to answer. I suspected, since her parents didn't show up for the ultrasound or when she went into labour, that there may have been bad blood between Ruth and her parents, but I honestly don't know for sure. Ruth hasn't said anything, she's too distraught from the situation and in the middle of recovering from the surgery. So, if we don't get an answer within the next two or three days, we'll see if maybe she will tell us anything."

"Mmm-hmm..." Helga nodded, crossing her arms as a thoughtful frown came to her face. "If there's bad blood in there, it's going to make it harder for Ruth to cope and have the support she needs. Sure, she has Arnold, his parents, and his family, and the team of specialists to help deal with the loss of their child, and I guess their friends, too. They would help, but her parents? They should be involved too, you know."

"I couldn't agree more. ...And you know, I'm wondering what this may do to Arnold and Ruth's marriage."

"What do you mean?"

"There is something wrong with their marriage. I'm not saying they don't care about each other to some level, because I know they do, but...if you think about it Helga, they just went into things in the wrong place at the wrong time, and just don't have what it means to be together as a couple. They will probably need some counseling after this."

Helga's eyes widened, looking unsure and puzzled, biting her lip. "You think that this could destroy their marriage?"

"Well, I wouldn't put it that way." Brainy murmured, taking off his glasses for a moment to wipe his eyes and then putting them back on. "But I think maybe, that this was some kind of a wake up call for them. That they need to sort out a lot of things and come to terms with their feelings and everything else around them, that the way they are going right now, with no change, is _not _going to work. I think this may be the beginning of their marriage going downhill. It's not that ALL couples who have miscarriages or stillborn babies shouldn't be together, I'm not saying that. Like I said about the wake up call, I think that their much-needed wake up call came in the form of this."

"That's just sad." Helga shook her head and leaned against the doorway. "But I have a feeling you might be right. Still, either way it might end up, I sure hope they get the help and support they need for everything. At least I'm not a divorce attorney! I don't know what I'd do if I had to take on that case if they end up getting divorced."

Brainy gave a small nod of agreement. Helga may have grown up a lot since her childhood, in both body _and_ mind, and he knew that she wouldn't at all be jumping around on the table about the possible divorce, but the idea of her being a divorce attorney and handling their case likely just wouldn't work for her. It was already hard enough for her to witness this, but to have to deal with it on all angles and work out the legal procedures of a divorce for those two in particular would only serve to complicate things.

He couldn't let her go through something like that.

"Anyway..." Helga murmured and stepped out of the room, yawning a bit. "I'd better get to bed. I have a lot of over time to do at work for missing today. I'll probably be gone by the time you get up, I'll probably leave early. I bought some eggs and some more cereal and milk on my way home earlier so you should be okay. Keep me posted, okay?"

Brainy nodded. "All right, Helga. I will. Goodnight." He smiled warmly.

"Goodnight, Brainy. See you tomorrow." She smiled back and then headed out to their room, turning out the hallway light.

Exhaling, Brainy took off his glasses and placed them on his desk as he leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling with a thoughtful gaze. So much was running through his mind right now, it was a wonder his head wasn't spinning. There was a lot to deal with, to get through, sort out, organize...

It was going to be a long, long night indeed.

XXX

"How are they doing, Dr. Shortman?"

"You can call me Stella, Brian, it's all right." Stella smiled at him a little, and sighed as she took another sip of her coffee. "Yesterday was such a long and tiring day. Ruth is recovering just fine from the surgery, but she's still distraught over the loss of Francesca. So is Arnold...I have never seen my son so sad like this. It breaks my heart, both for the loss of our own grandchild and seeing them suffer like this. They're seeing Dr. Libinson and Dr. Alvarez and the team of specialists who deal with couples who have lost their child to get the proper closure they need, making funeral arrangements and whatnot. I was helping them out, but I needed a coffee break, I barely slept at all last night."

Brainy gently placed a hand on the older woman's shoulder. "I'm sorry again, for all of this...Stella. It's a deep shame that it had to happen to them. But I hope with all my heart that they will make it through this, one way or another."

Looking at him with sad, tired, but warm eyes, Stella smiled and patted his hand. "Thank you, Brian. You've helped a lot in this, and your help, strength and compassion is very helpful. I...have a feeling that this may cause problems in their marriage, I could see it a mile away."

"You think so?"

"Well, I have a feeling, but I don't know what may come of it. I just hope, as you said, they'll make it through this whether or not they may stay together."

"Either way...Francesca, despite being a stillborn, will always be a part of their lives and will be a part of what connects them together. She is still their child, even though in spirit." Brainy said softly.

Stella nodded in agreement. "I couldn't have said it better myself. You're right. You're absolutely right. That's what your wife said, something like that, right?"

"She did. When I told Arnold and Mr. Shortman, my wife was waiting there with them to offer her support, and she comforted him, saying pretty much what I said just now. ...Well, a lot more than that, of course."

"Miles told me about what she said, back in the room when you told them. Can you thank her again for me? It was such a nice thing of her to do. She's such a sweetheart."

"Yeah, she may be like a take-no-prisoners Amazon, but...she can be a real sweetie." A small smile etched Brainy's face. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to let her know. I promised her I'd keep her updated about all of this, anyway."

"Thank you, that's great to hear." Stella took another slip of her coffee. "Did you get a hold of Ruth's parents?"

Brainy sighed and shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I haven't been able to get through all of yesterday, last night or this morning. I left two messages, and I called every hour. Nothing at all."

"I can't believe it. Troy and Gretchen are just being stupid about this." The older doctor groaned. "Their daughter needs them, and they just turn their backs like it's nothing. They don't even know that their own grandchild is a stillborn."

"It's unfair of them." The spectacled man agreed. "I don't know if it's because they are too busy or that they really are ignoring the calls. Do you know if there is such bad blood between Ruth and her parents?"

"I wouldn't say bad blood, but I also wouldn't say they are the perfect family. But I knew they were there for each other somehow. They just aren't in contact very often." Stella said. "When she was eight weeks pregnant and came to see me for her first ultrasound, only her mother showed up. But after that, she never showed again. Her father never did, not once. Arnold, Miles, myself, and her friends Connie and Maria were ever the only ones present for her check ups and ultrasounds."

"That's what Dr. Maxwell said to me. Ruth called you when she was in labour, didn't she?"

"She did. She had tried calling her parents, but they didn't pick up their phone at all, so she called me."

A heavy sigh escaped Brainy and he shook his head in disbelief. There _was_ something wrong between Ruth and her parents if they weren't in contact very often. Sure, busy lifestyles did that at times, but why wouldn't they take time off to be close to their daughter when she near her due date? The Patakis weren't exactly 100% perfect, but they were far better than in the past and Brainy knew now that if Helga were pregnant and close to her due date, they would make sure to be close by and ready for when the time would come.

"Well...I suppose all we can do is keep trying them." Brainy finally said. "Do you need any more help?"

"I do need to help out in getting everything ready for Francesca's proper memorial service. They're taking pictures, making clay molds of her hands and feet, taking finger prints, and dressing her in a lovely little gown, as well putting together her death certificate. We're all doing what we can to make sure they get proper closure and that her memory will be within our hearts." Stella sipped her coffee once more. "Would you do me a favour, and talk to Dr. Bartlett in the psychology department? I've recommended him to them for the counselling and coping they will need for everything, since he also deals with marital problems."

"No problem Stella, I'll get to that right away."

"Thank you, Brian. Thank you very much for everything."

Brainy smiled once more. "You're welcome. I do what I can."

Stella smiled back, and he left her office, heading off to the psychology department. He knew what he had to do, in all part of redeeming himself for his actions, but that was only part of it. Brainy knew what else had to be done, but it was pushed back at the far ends of his mind. He couldn't give up now. He had to see this through to the end, and make sure to do that the right way.

Whatever that way may have been.

XXX

After Brainy spoke with Dr. Bartlett, he returned downstairs, and even passed by the private room from yesterday, seeing Arnold in there all by himself, looking distraught, and deep in thought. He wondered for a moment if he should go in there and see how he was doing, or to just continue on his way.

"Hi, Brian." Arnold said softly from the room as he looked up to see him. The poor man had bloodshot eyes, tear-stained cheeks, dark circles in his eyes, even his hair looked a bit limp.

Looks like it answered that question.

"Hey, Arnold." Brainy walked into the room, holding his clipboard against him. "How are you doing?"

"I've been better." Arnold murmured, running a hand through his hair. "We just finished getting everything together for Francesca's memory. Her funeral will take place this Saturday. Ruth will be out of the hospital by then, thankfully. She's doing okay now, except for...the loss."

"Well, that's good to hear on her part." Brainy agreed. "I should also inform you that we have not been able to contact her parents."

"I'm not surprised. They haven't always been as attentive as they could have been. It's not her fault though, they've always hated me." The football-headed man murmured.

"Why?" Brainy asked, frowning.

Arnold sighed, looking up at him and gesturing for him to sit down in a chair next to him, which he did. "Between you and me, Brian, her parents don't like me. They don't like me because...I'm not the handsomest guy around, I'm not richest, and well, I am smart but I'm no Physicist. When I got her pregnant, her father was furious, and made no effort to be there for Ruth. Her mom tried, but she eventually gave up and followed in her husband's trails. I tried to be nice and get along with them, they are my in-laws, but it's difficult. And because they don't like me, Ruth doesn't speak to them often, but she's tried to make amends."

So that's what was going on. Brainy understood. There was a set of bad blood. All because they didn't approve of their daughter being with Arnold. And who knows what else was in there.

"Do your parents know?"

"Not really, Troy and Gretchen tend to be all polite and kind in front of my parents. With my dad being an Anthropologist and my mom being a doctor, they see that one link to being...well, having good connections and not wronging the right kind of people. I've mentioned they don't think highly of me, but I don't get into it because I could never drag my parents into our...problems. And now that we've had a stillborn, they'll kill me. Poor Ruth, I feel bad that she has to deal with that kind of attitude from her parents."

"I'm sorry to heart that. If you want we can wait a while before we somehow get ahold of her parents, if you guys aren't ready to share this news."

Arnold nodded. "Thanks, Brian. We need a few days to adjust and get the closure we need before...before we tell our friends and families and coworkers."

"You're welcome, Arnold. No problem." Brainy patted his shoulder. "We're all here to help you guys any way you need it."

"I know." He smiled a little bit, but it was grateful. "And thank you for listening. I needed that."

"Don't mention it. Although you two should consult with Dr. Bartlett over in the Psychology department, I'm sure your mother mentioned all this to you."

"She did, and we'll go see him tomorrow, when Ruth is a bit more rested and recovered."

"All right then." Brainy nodded, and stood up. "I'd better get back to work. Will you be okay, Arnold?"

"I'll be fine. I just need to reflect."

"Okay, I'll see you later."

As he left the room, shutting the door behind him, Brainy felt yet another stab of guilt in his heart. This was getting to be too much, and he knew now, more and more, just how much his own selfish desires had resulted in such...mayhem.

_I just hope everything turns out all right...not much else can be done beyond that._ He thought, looking uncertain and anxious.

He just wondered one simple thing.

_Now what?_


	10. Belle Nuit Chez Paris

**We're back again folks, continuing our journey into the twisted reality time paradox in which our pal Brainy has created for us. What, oh what, will come out this time?**

**And I want to assure you all, that neither Arnold or Helga cheat on their spouses. Yes, they are subconsciously in love with each other, as we've seen in the previous instalments, and have growing chemistry galore, but I want to assure you all that they don't each on their respective spouses. What's going to happen? You'll see!**

**For now, there WILL be chemistry. OwO**

**So, sit back and enjoy the ride.**

**This story is dedicated to my awesome buddy One Fine Wire who has been a tremendous help to me. :) :D And also dedicated to all of you who take the time to read this and my other stories, so thank you!**

**There are a couple of **_**Silent Hill 4: The Room**_** references in here. See if you can find them. :D**

XXX

It had been a few months since the rather tragic turn of events had taken place. The too-soon passing of little baby Francesca Marie Shortman-McDougal was still to that day three months later a tragic time in their lives. Her funeral was held, and her memory was honoured as it should have been. The tragedy still continued to loom over their heads, but the much-needed closure and memorial keepsakes helped to make it all right. As much as it could be, of course.

Brainy, who had since completed the program and had become a doctor at the hospital now, was now Dr. Brian Williams, and was working under Stella's wing a lot more often. Because of that, she offered little updates on how Arnold and Ruth were doing, and even Helga sometimes would call them to check on them and offer them anything they needed. Stella didn't reveal too much, which Brainy of course understood, but was glad to know that things were...as well as could be, in a way. The two of them were still distraught over the loss of their daughter, and were unsure if they were ready to conceive again. Ruth went back to her job at the hairdresser, and Arnold continued teaching. They weren't sunshine and rainbows, but they were doing a bit better since the tragic night.

Brainy did casually enquire how their marriage was doing, considering how Stella had mentioned that it could lead to the downfall of their marriage, and was curious to know if things were going to be okay or not.

"Honestly Brian, I couldn't say for sure. I have a feeling there's a lot of rocks and rifts between them in that sense, but they do care about each other and are trying to get through everything somehow. Whatever does happen, well...Miles and I will be there for them every step of the way. They have been to marital counseling with our own Dr. Bartlett here, and he's helped them a lot, but they're still seeing where things will go and what they can do." She'd said.

Brainy let the information sink in, and although even he didn't know what to expect, wished them the best none the less. He still felt responsible for this, his own selfish desires were what brought this on, and he knew it more than ever. He just wondered what was going to happen next.

His answer came when Stella just now invited him and Helga to join her (Stella), Miles, Arnold and Ruth for dinner the next evening.

"Are you sure Dr. Short-...sorry, Stella?" Brainy asked in surprise. "We wouldn't want to impose."

"Nonsense, Brian!" Stella waved it off. "We want you two to come. In fact, it was Arnold and Ruth who suggested it, they wanted to really thank you for everything you two have done for them. And well, I definitely wanted to invite you both along for the same reasons. This is a little pick-me-up for them anyway, and I know they'd be thrilled if you two came along."

_And I wonder why._ Brainy thought. "We'd be happy to come. I'll just run it by Helga when I get home, and we'll call you either tonight or tomorrow."

"Great! We have reservations for Chez Paris tomorrow night at 7:30." Stella informed him. "That being said, you ready to get to work, Brian?" She grinned at him and patted his back. "Or should I say...Dr. Williams?"

Brainy grinned, hanging his stethoscope around his neck. "Sounds good, Stella."

Chez Paris. Absolutely ironic. The place where Arnold and Helga had had their first date, despite that Arnold didn't even know that Cecile was Helga all along. Chez Pierre, right across from Chez Paris, was the place where Arnold's then-crush on Ruth had ended. It was that night at Chez Paris that Arnold had fallen in love with the Cecile imposter, when really, he had fallen in love with Helga. She had shown her true colours to him, being herself, despite that she was hiding under a disguise. And even when he found out she was an imposter, he was still enchanted by her.

And now, the next evening, they would all be going there. The one place where Arnold realized that love at first sight did exist. The one place where he fell in love with her and didn't realize who she was until so much later. It was also the same place where she, Arnold, Gerald and Phoebe had gone there for dinner when really the tickets Helga had won were for Chez Pierre.

"_Where else am I going to find a girl who dresses up as my pen pal just to get a date with me?" _Arnold had said.

Brainy knew the answer to that one all too well.

XXX

"Sooooooooo! They want us to join 'em for dinner, huh?" Helga queried with a smile after Brainy had told her the news. "Sounds like a plan to me! It's been a while since I'd been to Chez Paris."

Brainy nearly felt a stab of both guilt and mild jealousy, only to realize that she was referring to the fact that sometimes her associates and boss would sometimes take her and some of her colleagues out to Chez Paris for dinner sometimes. He had taken her to Chez Pierre one time, since he knew that he couldn't take her to Chez Paris, it would be too much. But now, they were going. Together, and with Arnold actually present.

"Yeah, it'll be fun." Brainy finally said. "The reservation is for 7:30 tomorrow, I'll have to take the evening off, but it shouldn't be a problem, I'll be able to get Dr. Jensen to replace me, and then I can work overtime this week."

"Great! Then it's a triple date." Helga giggled, and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm gonna go shower now. Care to join me?"

Would he ever! But he recalled how awkward and strange he felt the first time they had actually made love, just three months ago. Seeing a naked woman for real and not just from his pseudo memories was a foreign sight to him, especially when he was both used to her nine-ten year old body and not seeing any sign of the no-no parts or any exposed areas. Helga was puzzled at how awkward and surprised he seemed, as if it were his first time ever. And in a matter of speaking, it was.

But, since then, he pulled through and got used to it. Despite that even now it still overwhelmed and even scared his ten-year-old brain, but it was a lot easier now. He felt privileged to do this with such a beautiful woman with a very nice body, with _Helga_ of all people. But there was also one more problem. And that was the obvious fact of what he had done to obtain this, and what prices had to be paid to get to it. So at times it was hard to escape and let it all come out, because all he could think of was how wrong this was. Wrong in about five different ways.

So, Brainy just shook his head. "Nah, I have a lot of work to do. Maybe next time, there's always tomorrow, when we have to instigate the preparation process."

"Whatever you say, B-rye." Helga kissed him sweetly and then went down to the bedroom.

He smiled after her, and then went to his office to get some work done.

It was then that his phone rang. But he didn't recognize the number, which puzzled him. Maybe it was a patient? No, a patient would be told to call his work phone, and this was his home phone.

Still, he sat at his desk and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Is this Dr. Brian Williams?" Came a male voice.

Puzzled, Brainy shifted the phone to his other ear. "Yes, this is he."

"I am Troy McDougal, I believe you were associated with my daughter, Ruth? And you have tried to contact us?"

_Yeah, I only tried contacting you four months ago, you jerk._ Brainy wanted to say, but he maintained his professional approach. "I did, Mr. McDougal. It was concerning your daughter and the results of her delivery."

"I do apologize, Williams. Gretchen and I were quite busy with our hectic schedules and had no time to get back to you. Stella has gotten through to us, and told us to call you as well." Troy murmured, sounding condescending.

"I see. Then I suppose you know of how your granddaughter had sadly been a stillborn. I'm very sorry for your loss, Mr. McDougal."

"Don't even say such foolish things, Williams. It's all the same. If not for that foolish _teacher_ my daughter married, we would have our wonderful grandchild to one day become my successor."

Brainy wasn't a violent person, especially when he'd dealt with Helga's fist most of his life, but he wanted to reach through the phone and punch this guy square in the face. How he could say such things was beyond him. _This isn't about you, you high and mighty corporate jerk. You weren't there when your daughter needed you, and instead you pass the blame on Arnold when he was nowhere near at fault for Francesca's unfortunate death._ "With all due respect Mr. McDougal, the death of Francesca was nobody's fault. It was complications within the womb and the birth itself, since-"

"I rather tire of the fact that you think you're so smart because you're a doctor, Williams." Troy said nastily on the other line. "Good day."

Click.

Brainy stared at the phone, and then placed it back on its cradle. "Good day to you too, asshole." It didn't even occur to him that he had actually used a swear word. He just couldn't believe the gull Ruth's father had to behave in such a way. This was such a calamity.

"Brian!" Helga called from the other room. "Did you buy the fruit blend shampoo like I asked? I can't find it."

_That's the shampoo Arnold always used...not that she knows that._ Brainy thought, and called back to his wife. "Yes, it's in the hallway closet!"

"Okay, thanks!"

"You're welcome!"

Leaning back in his chair, the platinum-blonde man took off his glasses and rubbed his face, looking at the ceiling, before sitting up straight and leaning over his desk, dangling his glasses in his hand. Brainy felt so unsure of what to do about everything happening. Moreover, what was going to come to happen? How would things turn out in the future? No one knew that for sure, he certainly didn't.

_Look at yourself, Brainy. You've become such a selfish moron._ He could hear the voice of his nine-year-old self say at the back of his mind. _You were just fine, you know. You were happy for them, and more than willing to move on and let Helga be happy. Now look at her. _

_But she is happy. I'd know it if she wasn't._

_No, she's not. Not entirely. She does have a good life with you and she cares about you very much. But she loves Arnold, you know._

_I do know that. But she won't suffer, I know she won't._

_Maybe she won't suffer entirely, but he's her true love whether she knows it or not. She's going to live the rest of her life here, with an empty void in her heart. A void only Arnold can fill. You know he and Ruth will end up divorcing. He's not happy with her. Don't you want his happiness too?_

_Of course I do. I would never wish for him to have an unhappy life. Ever._

_You're doing that by being married to Helga. He never knew what it was like to be in love. He never knew what kind of woman he truly wants and needs. He never knew that Helga is in fact the perfect woman for him. He'll never find another woman like her, ever._

_I can't just divorce Helga and wait for Arnold to divorce Ruth for that reason. It doesn't work that way._

_I never said you should do that. But you can do the right thing._

"Oh God." Brainy sighed, palming his face. "Having an argument with myself about all of this..."

"Did you say something, honey?" Helga asked as she poked her head in, having been walking by on her way back to the master bathroom.

Brainy smiled and put his glasses back on. "No, Helga. I was thinking out loud." _Big time. Big time thinking out loud._

XXX

It was the fateful night at Chez Paris, having dinner with Miles, Stella, Arnold and Ruth. Brainy wasn't sure if he'd been looking forward to it, because he knew all too well that it would be a very pleasant evening and would probably go very well, or if he was dreading it considering the circumstances at hand. But of course, he knew they had to go through with it. It would be rude and pretty sad to suddenly drop out of it. And he certainly couldn't now.

They had just arrived, and met with the Shortman family at the table for six they had reserved, all dressed in their best. Arnold was wearing a simple but still formal suit with a bright blue necktie, and still of course left his hair unruly as always. Ruth looked lovely in a golden cocktail dress, which did well to flatter and compliment her body, despite that she was still some ways off from losing the post-pregnancy weight, and had her hair up in a bun with two chopsticks holding it. Stella had on an elegant lime green dress, and a couple of gold and silver accessories, with some simple makeup. Miles, like his son, wore a casual yet formal suit, only his was dark gray while Arnold's was black, and his necktie was black and white like piano keys. Brainy himself was in a white dress shirt, a black vest, and dark pants, along with a red tie. Helga had teased him about looking like one of the waiters of the place, to which he just laughed at. Helga was lovely in a pink short-sleeved dress that went to her knees, a golden chain belt around her waist, along with an ivory spangle bracelet on each wrist, with her long blonde hair set down in waves and light layers along her shoulders and down her back, with some light makeup.

Much to Brainy's mild surprise, the seating arrangement had had Helga at one end of the table, he was next to her, and next to him was Stella. Arnold sat across from Helga, Ruth was next to him, and Miles was next to her.

Everything was going just fine, despite that Brainy sometimes silently kept an eye on his wife and Arnold, who sometimes made small talk with each other, but were sometimes glancing away from each other shyly. It wasn't until Arnold was telling her (and anyone who was listening) a funny story about how Ruth's father, Troy, had actually tried to sue him and his family, as well as the hospital because of the death of Francesca. It wasn't funny in THAT sense, but what was hilarious was that the McDougal's lawyer found it to be a ridiculous case of nothing but pettiness and to mention the fact that a stillborn baby was nobody's fault. The funny part of it did break the ice and got everyone at the table laughing, at least!

"Oh, I can just see that phone call!" Helga laughed, and held her hand to the side of her face in a phone pantomime. "'Hello lawyer, I have to sue my son-in-law, his family and the hospital because my granddaughter was a stillborn and it was all his fault. ...Hello? Hello?' I bet you his lawyer was laughing his head off!"

Ruth giggled at that, and Arnold laughed heartily at Helga's humour. "That's pretty much what happened." He remarked.

Brainy was glad to see them smiling and laughing, even after everything that had occurred a few months ago, and even before and now. Still, he couldn't help but feel a pang of anxiety as Arnold now looked toward Helga fondly with a smile as he managed to stop laughing, while she was practically beaming at him before she went on to talk about a funny situation that had occurred one time while she was waiting for a court case to come back into session. He listened to her every word, his green eyes clear and attentive, proving to Brainy that he was still the great listener.

"-And then Paul went over to Vince, and just flat out said 'Hey _Vinny_, I'm sorry that you couldn't keep your personal opinion of me outside the workplace where it belongs. And by the way, I'm married.' That was the best comeback _ever_!"

"Helga that's just so awful!" Arnold couldn't keep from laughing. "Amazing how Paul was so professional but still offering a big slap to Vince's face like that!"

"I know!" Helga broke into a fit of giggles and took a sip of her soda to calm herself a bit. She wasn't much of an alcoholic drinker, even though she did like her fair share of alcoholic drinks, but usually opted for something like soda or juice. But she wanted to be the designated driver that evening, anyway. "It was just so damn hilarious."

"Actually, now that I think about it, we once had a pretty terrible teacher back at school, her name was Velma Rubinstein, and she was a cold, hard, bitter lady and she hated teaching, and just knew how to treat children like dirt and have no respect for their intelligence." Arnold recalled, and made a face. "Horrible woman. I couldn't stand to be in the same room as her for five minutes."

"I remember her." Ruth chimed in, grimacing. "I had to bring my niece, or rather, my cousin's daughter, who goes to P.S. 118 in my cousin's place because she had a last minute emergency to attend to at the hospital, and my niece, her name is Phyllis, had Miss Rubinstein at the time. She was a horrid woman, and I didn't like the way she spoke to me or Phyllis. Like Arnold said, she had no respect for her or any of the intelligence that her students had. And her hair was horrible, just horrible, as if she hadn't maintained it in months." She turned to Brainy then. "My cousin, Dr. Katherine Loomis, actually works at the Hillwood Hospital. She's a surgeon and a paediatrician. Have you met her?"

"Yes!" Brainy said, and nodded. "Stella and I worked with her last week, actually, when she had to perform a biopsy and needed some extra help because she was new to that form of medical work. Very nice woman, she was a pleasure to work with."

"Small world! That's pretty neat." Helga remarked with a grin, before turning back to Ruth and Arnold. "Man, that woman sounds like quite a bitch! ...Excuse my language. No wait, I don't think I'm sorry."

Arnold laughed. "It's okay, even that word is way too good for her. Velma was in her early thirties, and just downright hateful. And on top of that, she was a religious fanatatic. Did you ever see the movie adaptation of Stephen King's _The Mist_?"

Helga eagerly nodded. "Of course! And I've read the original short story, too. I think I get where you're going with this. She reminded you of Mrs. Carmody, didn't she?"

"Oh yeah, she was Mrs. Carmody in the flesh. Anyway, so one time Velma was talking badly about one of our newer teachers at the time, Eileen Galvin. She moved here from Maine, and she had just started teaching, and was transferred here to P.S. 118. She's a very nice woman and an excellent teacher, and also is great with kids. Velma didn't like her one bit just because she wasn't Christian, and also because everyone liked her a lot more."

"Talk about bitchy vanity." Helga grimaced, and ushered her plate aside, propping her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her folded hands. "How'd Eileen react to it all?"

"Eileen isn't a confrontational person, but she did often ask Velma to stop acting like that toward her while they were at work. So this one day, Velma was in the teacher's lounge, ranting to the school secretary about Eileen and how she was an blasphemous Atheist and other nonsensical stuff. Then she stooped to a whole new low when she said that Eileen's boyfriend, who's name is Henry, deserved someone better and was a stupid idiot for dating her, and just talking badly about him, too. Well, what she didn't know was that Eileen was in the doorway of the room and heard everything she said. Well, she went right over to Velma and said 'You can talk trash about me all you like, _Miss Rubinstein_, but don't you dare talk about my boyfriend like that. You are being rude and derogatory, and here I thought you would at least try to be professional about your attitude toward me when we're at work, but I guess I was wrong.' And then the secretary told the principal, and well, needless to say, Velma was fired less than a week later. Not just for that, but like I said, for being a horrible teacher."

"Ohhhh burn!" Helga whooped, and laughed. "Well I'm sure glad Eileen put that witch in her place, she sure deserved it! I'm sure now she'll think twice before talking about a person's loved one like that, don't you think?" She then paused a moment, as if remembering something. "Wait a minute! Henry...he wouldn't happen to be Henry Townshend, would he?"

Arnold looked surprised and nodded. "Yeah, the same! You know him?"

Finishing her soda, Helga nodded vigorously. "You bet! He had photographic evidence of the Walter Sullivan case I had to help work on two months ago, and I met with him a few times to look over the evidence he had. Very nice man, and on the quiet and shy side. Did you ever meet him?"

"A couple of times, I met him when I was in the parking lot at school, and he was coming to pick up Eileen, and he asked me where she was, so I told him, and we got a little acquainted before he went to find her. You're right, he's a nice guy and is a bit shy and introspective more of a listener than a speaker, but a nice fellow."

"A listener, eh? Kind of like you, hmm?" Helga said in a teasing manner, a playful smirk on her face, but her eyes were smiling as she touched Arnold's hand in a friendly way.

Brainy could have sworn there was a spark between them on the brief but affectionate contact. They were getting closer, weren't they?

"You can say that, I guess." Arnold shrugged, and smiled at her, patting her hand in return. "Brian is the listening type too, you know."

"Well, yeah." Brainy shrugged, pushing everything aside yet again for the sake of their good evening. "As a kid I didn't talk much, I'm not sure if you remember, I was always the quiet type. Then as I got older, I just pretty much developed and became more talkative and sociable, but I've still got a quietness streak." He winked playfully at Helga, who grinned and giggled.

"Could've fooled me, chatter box!" Stella elbowed Brainy playfully.

Brainy just smiled and nodded, turning over to Ruth as she asked him a question.

Despite everything in between, he was actually having a pleasant evening with them. Even if it was a little hard to watch the intense chemistry between his wife and the man she unknowingly was in love with. He had a feeling that they were going to be a lot closer after this evening, for sure.

XXX

**The **_**Silent Hill 4: The Room**_** references were the names of the main protagonist of the game, Henry Townshend, a principle character and soon your ally, Eileen Galvin, and the antagonist, Walter Sullivan. Walter was also briefly mentioned in an article back in **_**Silent Hill 2**_**.**


	11. More and More

**You guys, I just want to say that the whole sex issue thing is purely for the sake of the image of their marriage, so that Helga wouldn't find it suspicious. Now, it's not gratuitous between them, and I am NOT going to go into sex scene details, NO! No way. Only my OTP shall receive the receiver of love making details. (And I guess any OTHER pairings I do like, but eh, I haven't gotten to that just yet.)**

**And it will not be mentioned anymore. Maybe a reference once or twice, but nothing further of the sort.**

**So anyhow, let's move on!**

**More **_**Silent Hill **_**references are to be had and...a little something else I think maybe some of you might recognize. :) XD Because shameless cameos are cool. :D**

**All characters belong to their rightful owners.**

XXX

Brainy came out into the open room of the condo, adjusting the sleeves of his tan-coloured button-up shirt, resembling his childhood sweater, and made sure the belt around his pants was safely secure. He was getting ready for work, and came to find Helga on the phone as she was placing some breakfast dishes on the table. She waved to him briefly before she turned her attention back to the person she was talking to on the phone.

"-yeah, I was just going to say that! No problem, a lot of people are new at this kind of thing and have no clue what they're doing or even where to look to get the info! Okay, so what I'll do is that I'll talk to a few of the guys at the office to day, in fact I'll recommend you to either Ken Phillips, or even Darren Smith, those guys are absolute professionals and some of the best in our firm. I'll talk to them and have them call you by the end of the day or so." Helga spoke into the phone, her expression unreadable at the moment.

Raising a brow, Brainy wondered who she was talking to and what this was all about. If memory served, Ken and Darren were divorce attorneys at the law firm she worked at, so maybe it was a client requesting a good divorce attorney within the legal case?

Helga listened a few more moments, and then nodded, despite that the caller couldn't see it. "Hey, you're welcome, I'll do that no problem. Well, you take care of yourself, okay? And call me if you need anything else, I mean, if you need to, of course. I'm always glad to help. And again, I'm really sorry to hear that. ...Okay then I'll-huh? ...Well, sure! I don't see why not. Sure, sure, I'm free for lunch on Thursday. All right, you win! I'll meet you guys there at quarter past, since I get off at noon exactly, for lunch. ...All right, cool, I'll see you tomorrow." She hung up the phone, and joined Brainy at the table.

"Who called?" Brainy asked curiously.

"It was Arnold, actually." Helga replied, taking a bite of her eggs before elaborating. "He and Ruth are getting divorced, and he asked me for a little help in finding an attorney since he's kind of new at this whole thing. So I directed him to a couple of divorce attorneys in our firm, and I'll see which of them is available to take their case, and whatnot."

"Oh." Brainy murmured, a little surprised at this. He was of course, expecting that in a way, just as Stella had said before. Despite that, it was still a little bit shocking to hear about a couple actually getting a divorce. Now it was actually happening, and he could only wonder what was going to come of it all in the near-future. "That's a real shame. I'm so sorry to hear that." And he was. He knew that Arnold and Ruth needed this, but even a divorce for those who needed it was never an easy time. "Did he talk about it?"

"No, he didn't go into a lot of details. He's not one to really do that unless it just happens. He just kind of told me that he and Ruth talked and they decided the best thing to do was get a divorce. And like I said, needed some help to know the basics of things and finding an attorney to help them settle this." Helga replied. She looked a bit worried, biting her lip. "I know they do need this, their marriage just went waaay downhill, apparently. But still, that's just one big drag to actually go through a divorce. Poor Arnold. But he's handling it pretty well and facing it straight on, so that's good."

"I'm not surprised. That's good to know, I guess he really knows what's needed to be done, despite the downfalls of it all." Brainy said truthfully, sipping his mug of coffee. "So, you two are becoming good friends, huh?" He said before he could stop himself.

Helga smiled. "Yeah, you can say that. We've really hit it off whenever we saw each other and we just kind of clicked ever since. I have no idea how I missed this guy all these years! He's such a sweetie and a pretty good teacher, and real great to be around. I like him a lot, he's a great pal."

Brainy wondered at all if she realized just how much she looked like a smitten schoolgirl when she talked about Arnold...it was happening so much more now. She even _sounded_ a little smitten. It stung him in his gut.

And yet he knew he had it coming.

"That's good, Helga. It's always nice to make a new friend like that." Brainy said casually, finishing his slices of toast. "And Arnold is a very nice guy, it's no wonder you two get along."

"It almost seems so _weird_, considering the circumstances." Helga remarked, and poured herself some more coffee. "But hey, life can be full of surprises, can't it?"

_You have NO idea._ Brainy thought, deciding not to say that. "That's true, life sure can be full of unexpected turns of events and such. So, did he ask you to lunch on Thursday?"

"Yeah, he was invited by his colleague Eileen and her boyfriend Henry, remember, who I met with when I was working on the Walter Sullivan case, and he-Arnold that is- invited me to come along since the four of us do kind of know one another a bit. And also, since we're always coincidentally bumping into each other, we decided to just do something actually planned." Helga chuckled. "Oh! And stupid me. He also called to tell me that the court was summoning Carmen, the current Principal at P.S. 118 now, over to court tomorrow for the case. So that's where I gotta be! Carmen asked him and his coworker Eileen to be there tomorrow, and he wanted to tell me about it. Carmen did brief me on it, and we got to talk about it a little."

Amazing how she got so lost in the man she truly loved that she nearly forgot an important detail. Brainy would've found it amusing, but at the moment it just stung. In more ways than one.

Now wasn't the time for it. He had to focus.

"That's good, Helga. I know you'll knock 'em dead." Brainy gave a grin.

"Just as always!" Helga pumped her fist a bit. "How about you? Anything new on your neck of the woods at the hospital?"

"Well, Stella said we're going to be dealing with yet another pregnancy. A fairly young couple in their mid-to-late twenties, who had been trying to conceive for quite a while. Transferring here temporarily for work-related reasons and all. It's been interesting working in pregnancy cases, actually."

"Kind of makes you see a little more what women go through." Helga smirked lightly.

Brainy laughed. "You can say that."

Silence befell them, and for a moment Helga seemed to be a little lost in thought as she stared absently past Brainy, poking at the remainder of her food with her fork. He wondered what she was thinking about, that seemed to make her lost and absent. He had a good idea, but then again he wasn't a mind-reader. Was she that oblivious? Or was she just that good at hiding the truth somehow?

_You had this coming, you big jerk. Helga is in love with Arnold, whether she knows it or not. Arnold loves her too. They have intense chemistry together that other people are noticing now. You were happy for them back then. You were fine with her being with him. At this rate, they'll end up having a love affair!_ Brainy shuddered uncomfortably at the thought of them sneaking around behind his back and having a love affair... Not to say he wouldn't deserve that.

Shaking those thoughts, Brainy finished eating, and helped her gather the dishes to bring to the kitchen.

"Sorry I spaced out there, um, what time will you be back?" Helga finally said.

Finding his voice, Brainy responded, "Oh, around eight, I'd say. I'll probably have to work a later shift, and if that's the case I could be back by eleven. I'll give you a call and let you know what's going on."

"All righty. I'll be in by seven." His wife responded, now not looking at him as she placed their dishes in the dishwasher. Biting her lip, she looked at her watch, and then palmed her forehead.

"Are you all right?" Brainy asked in concern.

"I'm fine, I'm just thinking." Helga responded, shaking her head. "I feel a little dizzy, a bit icky. But I'm fine, I just need to get a drink of water and I'll be fine."

Brainy frowned a bit, not quite buying it. "Are you sure? Maybe you should relax for a few minutes before going to work."

"I'll be fine Brian, really." Helga poured herself a glass of water from the water filter pitcher, and drank some down. "I feel just fine."

"Well...all right. I have to go, you try to relax and take something if you need to." He kissed his wife on the cheek, which she returned, and then turned away to go get his bag and coat.

He wondered if she would be all right, and hoped so. Not to mention wondering what was wrong, since she seemed stressed and tired. His first guess was the upcoming case, which did seem odd since Helga practically revelled when her next big case was coming. Yes, even she had bouts of being anxious, despite that she hid the feelings, but like this? He wondered yet again, despite that he knew far better than almost anyone, just what was going on with her.

"Have a good day, Bee-Rye." Helga said with a weak smile.

Brainy nodded and smiled. "You too, honey. I'll see you tonight."

When he left the condo, he could swear that his heart was dropping to his stomach.

XXX

At the hospital much later, Brainy was prepared and met with Stella as she went over their itinerary for the day. He wondered if Arnold had told her about his impending divorce, because if she did know, she wasn't showing it nor saying anything about it. Like a true professional. He knew Miles and Stella would be there to help them both along the way, and get everything within the procedure done right and well.

Even he wondered what was next. He knew Arnold needed this more than Ruth did, so that he could get his life on a much better track and pursue something he truly enjoys, maybe travel around for a while to get his head on straight, and just take time for himself. Brainy hoped everything would turn out all right for him, and for Ruth as well. They were good people, and although didn't love one another like lovers would, would care about each other and also be bound by Francesca.

_He deserves it._ Brainy thought. _I hope he does all right._

In the clinic, he, Stella, and gynaecologist Dr. Hobson met with a young couple around his (Brainy) age, maybe a bit older, who were expecting a baby. The expecting woman was around four months pregnant at this point and was getting a check-up as well as an ultrasound to make sure all was well with the pregnancy. She had dark brown hair framing a sweetly smiling face, light green eyes, and dark olive skin that contrasted very nicely with her hair and eyes. The man with her had lighter brown hair, lighter skin, and distinct blue eyes behind a pair of simple, thinly framed glasses.

For a moment he couldn't help but have a major sense of deja-vu, going back to when he was an assistant and working with Stella when she was tending to Ruth when she was pregnant. When he had first met Arnold in this timeline.

Nothing had been the same since.

Snapping from his reverie, Brainy cleared his throat, adjusted his own glasses, and introduced himself to the couple. "Hello, I'm Dr. Brian Williams. How are you two today?"

"We're fine, thank you!" The woman smiled at him pleasantly. "I'm Christine, and this is my husband Kevin."

"Very nice to meet you, Dr. Williams." Said Kevin, smiling warmly. He then paused a moment, thinking of something. "Pardon me, but are you really the same Brian Williams, the husband of Helga Williams?"

"Oh, yes, I am Helga's husband." Brainy nodded. It still felt a bit odd saying that, even if he was getting much more used to this new life. "How did you know?"

"I met her, sometime after when we first moved out here from California, since we transferred for work purposes." Christine explained. "I was called to Jury Duty for a court case in downtown Hillwood. I met with Helga a few times and we got to chatting, and we really hit it off. She met Kevin too while we were waiting for him and he came to pick me up, and we all just became friends."

Another coincidence. Not as big as the last one, but still an interesting coincidence none the less. Then again, what WOULD top the last one? It was a tough act to follow.

"Well, it's sure a small world." Brainy remarked with a smile.

"And getting smaller." Kevin agreed.

"Indeed!" Christine giggled cheerfully. "Anyway, we were hoping to be able find out the baby's sex during the ultrasound today. We've thought of a couple of names for boys and girls, but we've been talking about it and we'd like to know what we're having so we can be sure."

"If that's what you want." Brainy smiled, and inwardly cringed at the use of how close to home those words were. "Have you had any problems so far?"

"Not so far." Christine shook her head. "Aside from some of the usual symptoms and whatnot, everything has been fine. I'm just glad to be over the morning sickness stage."

"Wasn't pretty." Kevin agreed, shaking his head. "But yes, so far everything went by just fine."

"All right!" Dr. Hobson came back over with Christine's file. "We'll check on your baby through the sonogram, if you'll come with me."

"Brian," Stella said, pulling Brainy aside. "I was paged by Dr. Garland, they need me to help them with open heart surgery since the new doctor they're training passed out, and I might be a few hours. Would you stay with Dr. Hobson until I'm done?"

"No problem, Stella." Brainy nodded. "I'll handle things here."

"Great, thank you." Stella looked relieved. "Go get 'em, tiger."

Brainy laughed and Stella left, while he joined Dr. Hobson with Kevin and Christine as they left the room as well.

XXX

"You want to give it a try, Brian?" Dr. Hobson offered to Brainy as he set up the sonogram machine while Christine was in the other room, changing into a hospital gown while Kevin waited by the door.

"I haven't used one before, Dr. Hobson." Brainy admitted a bit sheepishly. "I'm not sure if I should."

The older doctor scoffed. "Nonsense, it's not that hard. You just have to move the wand over the designated areas of the stomach where the special jelly is rubbed into, make sure the machine is at the correct frequency, and the screen will display it loud and clear. You can let me do the rest, since I'm sure you can't identify the image on a sonogram machine, can you?"

"Not entirely." Brainy shook his head.

"Then no problem. Besides, give you a little taste on the other sides of hospital work." Dr. Hobson winked, getting up from the chair he was sitting in so Brainy could sit.

Christine emerged from the other room, and situated herself on the examining table. She lifted the hospital gown a few inches to reveal her fairly protruding stomach, while Kevin came up beside her, holding her hand. Dr. Hobson took the jar of jelly, spreading some onto his gloved hand, and spread it along some of the skin of her abdomen. With a nod of his head to Brainy, the younger doctor nodded in return and gingerly but surely placed the sonogram wand on Christine's noticeably swollen stomach, keeping on the jelly. Immediately, the very distorted image of the inside of her womb where their baby rested came up on the screen. He had to remind himself to take the program in this one day, so he could learn how to properly study the screen.

"All righty, we can hear your baby's heartbeat beautifully." Dr. Hobson nodded toward the heart monitor hooked up nearby. "Move it to the right, will you?" He said to Brainy.

He did.

"Okay, and there you can see the formation of your baby's toes." Dr. Hobson indicated along the screen with his pen. "Looks like everything seems to be okay in there. A little upward, Brian."

Brainy guided the wand a little further up, his eyes glued to the screen. He had seen this a few times now, and it was still amazing to see the miracle of life, even if it wasn't his own. Thoughts of Helga one day getting pregnant did wrack a few nerves, he wasn't sure what to think of it.

Pushing those thoughts out of his head, Brainy continued with his instructions, glancing over at Kevin and Christine as they watched in awe, seeing the image of their baby. He could see all the joy, happiness, and love between them as they shared the moment together. Unlike Ruth, Christine looked absolutely _elated_ at seeing her baby, and very anxious for it to be born soon. Kevin looked equally happy and full of pride, as he stood there holding his wife's hand. The two glanced at each other, with so much love in their eyes, smiling widely, before looking back at the display screen.

A pang of envy coursed through Brainy then. How lovely it would be, to share that with Helga one day, without her subconsciously wishing it were _Arnold_ there with her.

Once more he shook off those thoughts and focused on his task.

"All right, would you two like to know the baby's sex?" Dr. Hobson asked as he picked up his clipboard.

Kevin and Christine both nodded. "Yes," She said. "We've been talking about it lately and we would like to know what we're having."

"Very well, by the looks of things, you two are having a boy!" Dr. Hobson made some notes on his clipboard.

"A boy..." Christine murmured, squeezing her husband's hand tighter.

Kevin smiled brighter than before, if possible, and kissed his wife lovingly on the mouth, though holding it no more than a few seconds for modesty. They smiled at one another again and turned back to Dr. Hobson and Brainy with bright smiles.

"Congratulations, I'm sure you two will have a wonderful baby boy." Brainy said kindly.

"Our son will be no less than wonderful, for sure." Christine murmured, patting an area of her stomach that didn't have the jelly coated on it.

"Looks like everything else is up to par, no problems at all. The test results all came back negative, and seems to be no defects at all. We'll see you in three weeks." Dr. Hobson said as he cleaned the jelly off Christine's stomach.

Brainy opened his mouth to say something else when his cell phone went off in his pocket. It was the phone he used to be contacted for emergencies. Puzzled and concerned, he took out his phone and excused himself to go out into the hallway.

"Hello?" He said into the phone, not recognizing the number. If Helga was in trouble, they must've figured out to contact this phone.

"Brian?" Came Arnold's voice on the other line. He didn't sound harried or panicked, just concerned.

"Arnold? What's going on, why are you calling me? Is Helga all right?"

"Something odd happened. I was at school this morning teaching my class, when my colleague Eileen came running in. She was in the office for a minute getting some papers, and she said Helga came in, looking a little sick and dazed, asking where I was. I'm with her right now, I took her back to your condo, she's not doing so hot, so I'm sticking with her for a while. I'm not sure what's wrong with her, I wanted to know if you noticed anything."

Brainy frowned a bit. "Well, I noticed she seemed a little out of it, and a bit under the weather this morning before I left for work. I imagine she might be under a bit of stress, or coming down with something because of it. What are her symptoms?"

"She's kind of feverish, dazed, confused, a little weak and sluggish, and she said she was feeling nauseous." Arnold responded on the other line. "I put her to bed, and I'm making her some soup. I wanted to let you know of it and ask ahead of time if anything could have been wrong."

"Oh." Brainy murmured, and sighed. "You'll have to look after her for a while, Arnold. I can't leave the hospital right now, your mother had to go help out in open heart surgery and so I have to help out Dr. Hobson awhile. I won't be home until either eight or eleven tonight. If Helga isn't showing improvement by this evening...please stay with her, will you? I want to make sure she's all right, and please call me with updates."

"I will, Brian." Arnold promised. "Is Helga on medication, should I give her a specific kind of medicine?"

"No, she isn't on medication. Just give her some Tylenol or some Gravol, and keep an eye on her. Soup will definitely help her, but don't give her some if she's still nauseous. If anything, give her some Ginger Ale if she's feeling sick to her stomach."

"Okay, no problem."

"Thank you, Arnold." Despite the situation, he was truly thankful the man his wife truly loved was there to help. "Keep me posted, okay?"

"I will, promise. I'll call you later."

Brainy hung up his phone, and returned to the examining room. He felt down about not being there for Helga while she was feeling sick, but was glad someone was there to look after her. It also struck him sadly, and with guilt, that Helga actually had made her way to Arnold. One would argue that P.S. 118 was closer to their apartment than the hospital was, but he knew all too well what it truly meant.

And it reminded him, once again, about what a big idiot he was right now.

XXX

**Yep! :D It's Kevin and Christine from One Fine Wire's fanfiction "Can Anybody Find Me?" **

**Surprise! X3 I decided to have them make a little cameo, and changing things up a bit. :)**

**The other Silent Hill cameo reference was Dr. Garland, as in Lisa Garland from the original **_**Silent Hill**_** game. X3 She was a nurse, yes, but still! **


	12. I Didn't Want Pity

**Okay, once again people, Helga is NOT pregnant. I merely made her a little sick because of the stress and other things she's been going through. And plus, to have Arnold there to take care of her and get them to bond a bit more. XD**

**And I know Brainy's been receiving A LOT of hate lately, and that's okay, it's understandable. I'm not trying to make him hateful nor villainous scum out to destroy the dream team! It's all part in what he needs to learn throughout the progress of the story. So don't worry, I'm not going to be one of those hardcore AxH fans (though I AM hardcore XD) who make any and all competition out to be villainous scum, and that includes Brainy. It's just how the story is going. You'll understand later on.**

**This chapter IS shorter, yes, but don't worry, there's still more. :D**

XXX

Brainy didn't make it home until 10:30, which was pretty good. Arnold hadn't phoned, nor did Helga (if she were able to), which indicated she was all right, especially since she wasn't rushed to the hospital, either.

He entered the condo quietly, turning on a single light so he could see what he was doing. The Packard was parked out in front of the building, indicating that Arnold was still here, having been waiting for him to get home, he supposed. Brainy took off his shoes and coat, hanging it up. That was when he heard soft voices from the bedroom. Very quietly, he went down the hall to the bedroom, and saw Arnold sitting on a chair next to the bed. Helga was laying under the covers, her hair a bit of a dishevelled mess across her pillow. From where he stood, she looked pale and sick, the poor thing. The room was dark, only the small lamp on the bedside table was turned on, bathing the room in a dim yet fairly bright light.

"Will you be able to make it to court tomorrow? If you won't get any better, we might have to postpone it." Arnold said gently.

"No..." Helga groaned. "I have to...I can't just back down. Arnold, this is important."

"Your health is far more important." Arnold said patiently. "You won't do well if you go in there in this condition. You're sick and you need to rest."

"Arnold, it would set a bad precedent if I backed out for this." Helga groaned, and sounded like she was in pain. "Everyone we're working with..."

"Helga, listen." He sat closer to her and lay his hand on her forehead. "You're sick, you need to relax and sleep. If you're not feeling better by tomorrow, take the day off and we can postpone the case if we have to."

"Damn it... I was too stressed, and everything going on, really got to me, huh?" She laughed humorlessly.

"I guess so." Arnold murmured. "All you can do is sleep, relax, and take your medicine, and drink plenty of liquid."

"Mmm. ...Thanks, Arnold."

"You're welcome."

Brainy cleared his throat, and Arnold looked up to see him. He gave a smile and stood up, greeting him as Helga weakly murmured a "hello" to Brainy as well.

"Is everything all right?" Brainy asked. "How is she?"

"Well, she's doing better than before, but she's still pretty weak and feeling really under the weather. She had a fever, it did get pretty bad but it went down after she took some medicine. I'm pretty sure she just has a pretty bad virus, and probably got a little sick due to stress as well. ...Well, you're the doctor, I'm sorry." He said in a mild joking manner.

"It's all right. Thank you for looking after her, Arnold. I'll...let you know when she's better, so that the case can be further discussed and planned again." Brainy said, now reaching into his pocket for his wallet. "I'll pay you for your trouble."

"No no, I can't accept that. It was no trouble, Brian." Arnold assured kindly. "But thank you anyway."

"Arnold, you had to take time out of your day and schedule to take care of my wife when you clearly didn't have to. I think you should be compensated."

"That's nice of you to think so, it really is. But I don't need you to pay me, it's perfectly fine. I took care of Helga because I wanted to, because you guys are my friends."

Friends. The term struck Brainy then. Friends. Back in the original time, they hadn't quite been "friends", but they also didn't dislike one another. Brainy remembered the time back in fourth grade, when they were given e-mails, and through some misunderstandings, Helga had mistaken his e-mail in confessing his love for her to be from Arnold instead of himself. But he hadn't known that at the time and truly thought she loved him back, and had consulted Arnold to help him out.

Boy did that turn into a disaster. Helga showed up, seeing Arnold there, truly thinking he was "Golden Hero", without even seeing him at first. But when he was pointed out, with the rose (as she said in the e-mail, so that she would know), she was angry and thought it was all a cruel joke. That was pretty much the first time Brainy had actually asked Arnold for help...and seeing what a mess it caused, he decided not to do that again. Not that he was ungrateful, of course, but it only lead to a big misunderstanding.

On top of that, he felt bad, and it was at that time Brainy realized Helga would never feel that way about him. Of course, he knew that long before, but now it really confirmed it, especially after believing she did love him. He felt bad that it looked as though they were crushing her hopes and dreams, while his own were also crushed. But more so, hers were shattered.

The healing process was no picnic, but, Brainy remembered then. He got over it. He was fine with going back to the way things were. He realized that it was because he didn't want Helga or anyone else to feel sorry for him. He knew pretty well what pity could do to people.

_I was fine with it because...I didn't want her to feel sorry for me. I didn't want Arnold to feel sorry for me. No one. I didn't want to be pitied. I just knew that I couldn't help how I felt, no one could, not even Helga, or Arnold. We can't help who we love or don't love. It's just the way it works. I was fine because I wanted her to be happy. Not to feel sorry for me. If she felt sorry for me, she would live in guilt, and probably feel held back because she knew that loving someone else would hurt me. ...I didn't want her to feel that. Heaven forbid, she'd probably even give me a chance, purely out of guilt. Not just because she wants to get to know me as a person. She would figure that I would have my chance in Heaven and be okay, that I would be happy and she would be happy that I was happy and no longer sad._

"Brian? Hey, Brian? Are you all right?" Arnold's voice interrupted.

Brainy blinked, realizing once again that he was strangely in a new world. He was twenty-six, a doctor, and married to Helga, who was a successful attorney. Arnold was a teacher, having just divorced Ruth McDougal, and had a stillborn child. (May Francesca Marie Shortman rest in peace) He wasn't ten years old anymore, having just been perfectly accepting of everything. He was...

"Sorry, Arnold. I was lost in thought for a moment. ...Can I at least owe you a favour?"

Arnold looked at him, and then chuckled. "All right, fine. You know...Gerald always joked about how back in school, everyone owed me at least one favour."

_Still stands even today._ Brainy thought. "Yeah, I guess I can see why. Well, thanks again, Arnold."

"No problem, Brian. I'll see you around." Arnold said, and turned to the bedroom to wave to Helga before he went to the door, took his coat off the hook and then left the condo.

_Jeez...this is heavy..._ The man held his head as he felt a headache coming on. He took off his glasses for a moment, and entered the bedroom.

Helga was still laying there, groaning a bit as she heard him come in. She blinked her tired, glazed eyes at him. "...Hey. You're back."

"Yeah, I made it home a little earlier. How do you feel?"

"Like I got hit by a truck. And it made me feel sluggish and nauseous. Had to worship the porcelain goddess a few times, though."

"Did Arnold help you with that?" Brainy queried, going over to his dresser to change.

"Mmm. Held my hair, rubbed my back. Man he's sweet..."

Couldn't argue with that, no matter how much he would've tried, not that he would anyway. "It's in his nature, no wonder." _Even in a world like this._

"Mmmm." The woman groaned a bit. "Yeah...hey...going to sleep now. See ya tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Helga. Do you need anything before you go to sleep?"

"Mm-mm. I'm fine. Night." Helga yawned and then settled more into her pillow as she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

Exhaling, in a bit of a wheeze, Brainy found himself taking his inhaler and taking a swig from it. Once he did so, he placed it back down, and changed out of his work clothes and into his nightclothes. As he did, he began to wonder about what he had been thinking about just a few minutes ago, surprised he now pretty much remembered that.

_People would find out I was going through unrequited love, and then they feel bad for me. But I didn't want them to. It was just something I accepted, something I knew I couldn't change. And I was fine with it, because I knew it was no one's fault. I knew Helga didn't know how I felt, I knew Arnold didn't know how Helga felt, and even as much as I wanted to be hers, I knew it would never happen. We're too alike and yet too different, there isn't much balance. I was fine with it. I was tired of people feeling sorry for me. I didn't need them to. I may have stalked and have been obsessed, but I couldn't help how I felt. I knew that, and I knew we weren't meant to be. And I was fine with it. I was just a kid, I would get over it all, and find someone else. Helga may be one in a million, but I knew I had to find someone. Not settle, of course, but someone who I knew I could love, and who would feel the same way._

Brainy blinked, and climbed into bed. Where were these thoughts coming from? Why was he remembering them _now_? What was going on? Sighing once more, he snuggled under the covers, making sure to give Helga her space, and soon fell asleep too.

This was going to be really, really weird.


	13. Nightmaric Symbolism

**Hey, welcome back! Today, is where this story will slowly come to an end. Now now, don't worry, there is still a few more chapters to go. But here, this is when everything seems to fall in a better place. However, Brainy does realize more and more that even with some things worked out, it still just isn't as it should be. Or could be. **

**So, we're going to start several months later. Close to a year. You'll see what's going on as you read along. **

**As my buddy One Fine Wire said, it's at this point that Brainy is really rationalizing that since everything is better, things will be just fine. But, well, it's not that simple!**

**Here we go!**

XXX

On one night, Brainy had a dream. A nightmare.

He was dreaming, that he was wandering around, aimlessly, there was fog all around, he couldn't see ten feet in front of him. From what he could tell, he was on a road, leading to...who-knew-where. Wherever it led, he couldn't help but feel very hesitant about proceeding. The fog was thicker than any fog he'd ever seen in his life.

_Where am I?_ _Am I dreaming? Or is this like Stephen King's "The Mist", and there is some big monster out to grab me?_

Ahead, somewhere in the fog, or his imagination, he didn't know, he could hear the unmistakable sound of laughter. Nothing evil or malevolent, as he would have likely expected in a place like this, but just laughter. Young, childish laughter. But there was something familiar about this laughter. So familiar.

Brainy walked along the deserted, foggy road, and as he saw clearer the further he went, he could hear soft thumping on the pavement, like something was jumping up and down on it periodically. A street lamp was on overhead, but it didn't do much good, he could only see the dim brightness of it through the fog blanket. But as he approached the sound, he saw a little girl. But not just any little girl. It was Helga. Her nine-year-old self that he remembered. Her omnipresent pink bow atop her head, her pigtails up and waving, her white t-shirt, her pink jumper dress, her white shoes, and those big blue eyes full of passion. She was playing hopscotch with herself on the street. She held a pebble in her hand, which she tossed, and then hopped from the one to the five in an expert fashion, on either both feet or one foot. He recalled she liked to play hopscotch during recess, sometimes alone or with Phoebe.

Now there she was, hopping along happily as she played with herself. Did she even notice all the fog around? It was as if she were lost in her own world. Was she lost in her own world? He guessed that she was, since he knew her well in that sense. But what was going on? What was she thinking about? Moreover, what was she even doing here?

Helga looked up and saw him approaching, her happiness seeming to fade. "What do you want, Brainy?"

Looking down at himself, it occurred to Brainy that he was still his new self, at twenty-six years old and a doctor. Blinking, he knelt down at her level. "What are you doing out here all by yourself, Helga?"

"Mind your own business, bucko. I can come out here and play hopscotch if I want to." Helga scowled in defiance.

Being so used to Helga's grown up self, he nearly felt his heart sink, despite that he knew he deserved that. "You're right, I'm sorry."

"You should be." She crossed her arms. "So get out of here, I'm waiting for...well, someone."

"Who?"

"Like I said, none of your business. And why would you care, anyway?"

Brainy gave a sigh, shaking his head. "Helga, there's all this fog out here and no one seems to be around. What's going on?"

"Nothing's going on." Helga went back to her game. "So quit with your yapping and do whatever the heck it is you do."

Brainy opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off when he then heard a voice calling from some feet away. Hurried footsteps were heard, and then Arnold emerged from the fog, also his younger self. He grinned lovingly at Helga and gave her a hug.

"Hey Helga, sorry I'm late." Arnold said. "I was too busy trying to buy flowers for you."

"I'll forgive you this once, my love." Helga giggled, hugging him back. "'Cause now you can make it up to me."

Much to Brainy's surprise, Arnold looked up at him and smirked deviously, as if to say "I won, she's mine, and there's nothing you can do about it", but the moment Helga let go and pulled back to look at him, Arnold immediately was smiling at her brightly. Almost as if Brainy had imagined his previous expression.

"If it means I can make it up to you, I don't see the problem with that." Arnold leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "Do you want to get going?"

"Well, doi! I'm game, and you're buying, you know!" Helga smirked playfully. "Nothing on the cheap, Football Head!"

Arnold laughed and took her hand, grinning at her. "Whatever you say, Helga."

"Darn right, whatever I say!"

The two of them walked off into the fog, but not without Arnold casting one more triumphant smirk over his shoulder to Brainy, before they disappeared in the thick blanket of fog. As if they had never been there in the first place.

_What just happened?_ Brainy wondered to himself, as he stood there in the same spot for some time, unmoving. Before long, he got his feet to move and he continued walking into the seemingly endless fog, trying to wrap his head around what was going on. But nothing was making sense in the least. Was the entire city doused in this fog? Where was everyone else? He had not heard nor seen another soul in sight for miles. And the two lovebirds were nowhere to be seen, either. As if they had disappeared without a trace.

As he walked along the deserted street, his head turned, and he could see the illuminated glow of a spot in the park. As if the fog was parting from around that spot so it could be seen. Two tall silhouettes were there, facing each other. Brainy couldn't make out any visible features, just that they were standing there, in winter coats, since it was snowing around them. He could hear them talking, but couldn't make out what they were saying. But something about their voices felt so hauntingly familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on it. His eyes fell on them, observing, wondering who they were and what was going on, but for some reason, he just couldn't move. Try as he may, he wouldn't. As if someone had control over him and hit the "Pause" button.

Brainy watched as the two dark silhouetted figures then threw themselves at each other, very closely. He assumed they were kissing, but it was very hard to tell. No voices were heard, at least until after probably five minutes. Five minutes, the silhouetted figures were that close. Now their voices sounded sadder. Previously, they sounded normal, then remorseful, then passionate, sweet, and now they sounded sad. What were they talking about? Who were they? What was going on?

But he didn't have time to observe for long, since the fog blanketed around him yet again. As well as that, a strange sound accompanied it. He couldn't place it, but it sounded something like large metal scrapping, or rather to be dragging across the ground. The sound was familiar to his ears, and bone-chilling to say the least. It continued, getting closer, closer. Whatever it was, it was coming toward him.

Suddenly, from within the fog, much to his surprise, and absolute horror, was a tall being with the build of a muscular human male, with a dirty apron that was dirty and stained with blood and grime. Gloves were worn, with fused fingers, and also was the sound of harsh breathing and grunting. But most of all, on his...assumed this was male, given the anatomy, head was a strange apparatus, like a giant helmet. It was deep red, with the top of it making the man seem like he was at least seven feet tall. The helmet was in the shape of a pyramid, with skewed dimensions.

Dragging behind him, was an enormous sword, with the blade dragging along the ground. It sure looked awkward to hold, so he must have settled for dragging it.

Brainy felt his being freeze up in horror, as he backed away ever so slightly, his eyes never leaving this...pyramid-headed monstrosity. The man had no eyes, not from what he could see, but he could _feel_ this thing watching him. He knew this man with the pyramid helmet was watching him, and could feel the hatred, the passive judgement, terror, ferocity, aggression, all of it. He felt scared, horrified, and completely immobile. This was like some kind of a grotesque executioner. Out to punish him.

The pyramid-headed man brought his free hand to a hole on his helmet, raising it ever so slightly as he seemed to look straight at Brainy. Grunts and breathing escaped the monstrosity, as he stood there a few feet away, not at all intending to leave.

But before Brainy could do anything at all, the pyramid-headed man then strongly but awkwardly raised his enormous sword with one hand, raising it upward and bringing it down toward him-

_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!_

Brainy shot up in bed, both started from the dream ending and also from his alarm clock going off. He breathed heavily, almost to the point of wheezing, which almost scared him since it was so much better now and he rarely needed his inhaler. None the less, he grabbed it off the bedside table, taking a swig of it. Taking a couple more deep breaths, he took one more swig, and then placed it back down where it was. Once he calmed down, he looked around the room. Helga was already up, he could hear her moving around the kitchen and playing the portable radio, and he could smell eggs and bacon in the air. It was raining outside, since it was pattering noisily on the window.

Yawning and rubbing his eyes, Brainy got out of bed and headed to the en suite bathroom. He was a little put off by the strange nightmare he'd had. Of course, he was no stranger to nightmares. They happened all the time. But this one though, it felt strangely vivid. As if it were really happening. As if he REALLY had to know it, had to face it, and had to acknowledge it.

Dreams, for the most part given research, were of your subconscious and your brain working while you slept, and with no real control over your thinking while you sleep, tends to go wild and seem to reflect your mind at the moment. There are times things you may have seen during the day or even from sometime in your life can pop in there and play a part of it too. There was symbolism involved, even in nightmares.

_Or am I digging too deep into it? I shouldn't have watched _Hills of Silence_ last night. But Helga and her horror movies... _Brainy thought as he splashed some water into his face, before going to take a shower. Now was not the time to think about it. He had to get ready for work, and face a new day yet again.

After he had showered, dried off, and got dressed for work, he came into the kitchen where Helga was just finishing with making breakfast. She smiled at him as he came into the room, turning to him a bit.

"Hey, B-ry. Good sleep?"

"Slept like a rock." Brainy shrugged, deciding not to go into his nightmare. It didn't matter, anyhow. He kissed her lightly, and then proceeded to help her set the table, glancing toward the radio as it relayed the traffic report.

"We got a postcard from Arnold today." Helga said, sounding a little too happy for it to be about how happy she was about a friend sending a letter or postcard. But of course Brainy knew all too well.

"Really? Where from?" Brainy enquired, placing the plates on the table, along with silverware. He then went to the coffee maker to pour himself some coffee.

"Spain. Says he and Julianna went there, so she could see some friends who lived there. In Madrid, actually." Helga scooped their food onto the plates. "I put it on my desk in the office if you want to check it out, it's addressed to both of us anyway. He says he's doing great and that Spain is pretty awesome, and does kind of miss being home."

It had been nearly a year since the events of Arnold and Ruth having faced the tragic death of their stillborn daughter Francesca, as well as their divorce. It was a tough process for them both, but, they parted on good terms and were still friends with one another. He had even heard from Stella that Ruth had been promoted at her job at the hairdressing salon, and had even gotten herself a nice apartment not far from her sister's place, so she was doing well. As for her parents, he wasn't sure about that, but didn't delve into it. Still, he was glad to hear she was doing well, despite everything.

Arnold meanwhile, was really back on his feet. From what Stella told him, and what Helga mentioned too, Arnold was taking time to travel for a while, just as he had wanted to do for so long, but was unable to, due to having to quit college, marry Ruth, get a job as a teacher and then have a baby, which ended badly. He was planning to go back to school to finish his final class semesters in college in order to earn his degree in Anthropology. He was still going to teach for a while, of course, but he was taking time off until after everything was settled. All the while along, he met a woman around his age named Julianna. They were good friends who knew each other in college, and it sometimes seemed that they were on their way to becoming a couple.

He and Helga were still good friends and corresponded often, writing letters to each other and calling on the phone sometimes. Before he had left, they went out sometimes with other pals, especially Gerald and Phoebe, since they were their respective best friends, and even Kevin and Christine, Helga's newfound good friends, also Henry and Eileen, Arnold's school colleague and her own boyfriend. It was almost, much to Brainy's dismay, as if they were a couple, and going on double dates with other couples. Their chemistry just grew more and more, their interactions, the looks they gave each other, their physical contact, everything. Brainy knew more than ever that they were in love, whether or not they knew it by now.

None the less, despite that, things were well over here too. Helga had also been promoted about four months ago, earning a raise and pretty important cases. Especially a couple more murder cases under her belt. She even got to travel often to Seattle, and even out of state to represent different clients and get a taste of what the legal system was in other places. Being an adventurous girl, she definitely enjoyed that for sure. He was glad she had that kind of opportunity. She was a lot happier and seemed to be enjoying life and her job a lot more. Brainy was glad to see that. It was surprising to see that things were working well for her.

Brainy himself, he was more of a regular doctor at the hospital now, being a simple family doctor and doctor's assistant at the moment, but still progressing higher. He too earned a raise and bonuses, and still worked closely with Stella and some other doctors as well, forming a lot of friendly acquaintances. There were still tough times, sure, especially with ER occurrences, but it was still a great and rewarding job, he found.

Between himself and Helga, it was a bit harder to say. They still got along and seemed to love each other, but more and more, even as happy as Helga was in life and seemed just fine with being married, there was something missing. Even more so than in the past when Brainy first discovered this...new life. Helga didn't seem to notice, but if she did, she wasn't saying anything. It was as if she were slipping further away, but didn't seem to notice it. Their... "sex life" was lacking. In fact, Brainy discovered it wasn't actually happening, much to his relief. It was only some kind of an illusionary effect.

Weird. Could that wizard Forthwind have something to do with it?

It occurred to Brainy that he had not heard nor seen that wizard in so long. What had happened? Where did he go? Was he still around?

Or was this whole thing one big crazy dream?

No. It was far too real, far too vivid to be a dream.

Brainy shook his head again as he joined Helga at the table for breakfast. No time to think of all this now. He had things to do and other matters to take care of. All this thinking could come later about...the other things.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder just what his nightmare meant.


	14. More Perfect

**Welcome back! :D Well, this story is much sadly coming to an end soon. It was an interesting experiment, and I definitely enjoyed it! The plot did forego a series of changes that I originally had planned, but that's good because it became exactly what it needed to be. As I said, part of that is thanks to One Fine Wire, who's helped me a lot through this. Including what we are going to be bringing in today! **

**She gave me permission to make Kevin and Christine, her OC's, face the sad misfortunes here just as they did in her fanfiction "Can Anybody Find Me?", because she thought it would definitely add something to it all. And well, I thought it was an interesting approach, and since I have permission, why not? It works!**

**Another thing...yeah. I now mention some of my favourite movies or movies I just simply liked. XD I'm bad. :D Especially **_**Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey**_**. It's my favourite movie of all time. OwO**

**The name of the Chinese place refers to Ziyi Zhang, a Chinese actress I'm pretty fond of. :3**

XXX

"Well...are you sure you really want to try that again? Not that we want to try to stop you, of course, but Stella is growing more and more concerned about you two over this."

"I know it seems like we might only end up disappointed again, but we really shouldn't stop trying. Our adoption portfolio was sent out five months ago and we haven't had any results. ...We want to try again. Would it be possible to forgo one more fertility treatment?"

"Yes, we could still try. However, with Christine's infertility as it is, there's a very low chance it could work, especially at this point."

Brainy stood in the elevator as he listened to Kevin sigh heavily on the other line, pushing the button that indicated the floor he wanted to ascend to of the condo building.

"Yeah, we do know that. Yes, setting ourselves up to be disappointed again isn't going to be fun. The past year, you've been dealing with quite a few couples who lost a baby, huh?"

"I have." Brainy ran a hand through his pale blonde hair. "It's not a pretty picture, and Helga is really worried about the two of you, she doesn't want you guys to be hurt again. But if you're sure about this, then I nor Stella will stop you."

A few moments of silence were heard on the other line, aside from the muffles of Kevin discussing this with his wife.

"We'll do it, Brian. One more time." Kevin finally said.

Nodding, despite the other man couldn't see it, Brainy exhaled. Deeply. "All right then, Kevin. I'll call Dr. Hobson for you, okay?"

"Great, thanks a lot, Brian. And tell Helga we said hi, okay? We'll call later this week."

"Will do. I'll see you later, Kevin."

Hanging up, Brainy pocketed his phone and rubbed his temples as the elevator doors opened. A middle-aged woman walked over to the elevator as he exited it, and cast a nod to her.

"Good evening, Dr. Williams." The woman said.

"Hello, Mrs. Mason. How are you?" He smiled politely.

"Oh quite fine, Dr. Williams. How is that lovely wife of yours? I've seen her a few times this week in the hall and the lobby, but she always seemed very distant and lost in her mind. Is she all right?"

Brainy blinked, wondering if other people really DID notice this as well. "Oh, uh, she's fine. She's just had a lot on her mind lately, that's all."

Mrs. Mason nodded, smiling a bit. "I see. She must've been going through quite a bit lately, hasn't she?"

"You could say that, yeah. It hasn't been that easy for her lately." Brainy shrugged a bit. "But don't worry about it. Things are going well overall, and it's helped her a lot, none the less."

"I'm very glad to hear that, Dr-"

"Mrs. Mason, just call me Brian. We're neighbours, it's all right."

"Right, of course, Brian. And you can call me Mary."

"Sure, Mary." Brainy smiled then. "So as I said, it's nothing serious at this point, she's doing just fine."

"She did seem different than what I remember when you two first moved in to this complex." Mary shrugged. "But what am I saying, I know I'm not the same ol' gal I was two years ago!"

Brainy laughed a bit, nodding. "Yeah, I suppose. I certainly am not the same boy I remember myself to be. ...You take care, Mary. I have to get home."

"You take care as well, Brian. And do tell your wife thank you for me, I enjoyed the brownies she gave me and my husband two days ago."

"I will, Mary. Have a good evening." He waved to her before the doors of the elevator closed and he continued down the hall to his and Helga's condo.

Upon entering, he caught sight of his wife on the couch in the living area, already in her PJ's, and was watching something on TV. She looked at him and smiled a bit as she reached for a potato chip on a bowl that sat next to her, and ate it.

"Hey, B-Rye. You ol' Doc you. Good day in the world of curing patients?" She smirked playfully.

Brainy chuckled, hanging his coat and removing his shoes. "Yeah, it was a good day overall. Kevin started in the pediatrics department today, and it went very well in fact."

"That's good." Helga patted a spot beside her on the couch. "How are he and Christine doing, anyway?"

"They're all right." Brainy sat down next to her on the couch. "In fact...they want to try again."

Helga's eyes widened. "They're trying again?"

Brainy nodded. "Yeah. They want to try once more, since their adoption portfolio isn't picking up. With the way Christine's infertility level is at, it might not work again. But, they want to try, and so I guess all we can do is try again and hope for the best."

"Well, they're sure determined." Helga murmured, leaning back against the couch to continue watching which now Brainy saw was a movie.

"They sure are. I'll set up an appointment to see Dr. Hobson, and hopefully get things moving." Brainy looked to the screen, and smiled a little. "You're watching _Homeward Bound_?"

"I was channel flicking and I checked the movie channel to see if it was on!" Helga protested playfully as if she were caught committing a crime. "I haven't seen that movie in YEARS! Used to watch it quite often when I was a kid...even if back then I'd say it was stupid. But man, looking back, this movie is adorable. And hey, Sassy's one heck of a gal from my own heart!"

Brainy chuckled, eyeing his wife for a moment before turning his gaze back to the television screen. He too, saw this movie quite a bit as a child, especially since his younger sister Sara loved the movie. As he observed, he couldn't help but just reminisce his childhood. Sure, his new life was filled with memories and thoughts, and brain of what happened over the past several years, but for the most part, he really was a ten-year-old kid in the body of an adult. Even with the memories and intelligence in his mind, he still was the same Brainy from back then. And then the strange meeting of a wizard, an actual wizard, changed everything so dramatically, he had been sure it was a dream.

But it was no dream. It was all _really_ happening. For a while he thought it to be absurd, but how could this be a joke? It was impossible.

Now Brainy reflected. He'd been living this new life fully and truly for a little over a year. He had been an aspiring doctor, became a doctor, and was married to Helga for a few years, having been the one who reached out to her and loved her and received love in return. As a child he found her attractive and pretty, and now as an adult she was beautiful. A lovely woman. But of course, fate had some things in store. All of which that brought Arnold into the picture, and into Helga's life for the first real time. Unexpectedly, and yet unsurprisingly, she of course fell in love with him, and he fell in love as well, despite that they didn't seem to know it. Or if they did, they were avoiding even thinking about it. The one thing Helga was missing in her life was true love. Brainy could see now, that his love with her was one-sided. He truly loved her, but she on the other hand saw him in a platonic way. He knew it more than she may have. She wasn't unhappy, she had it very well in this life, and he was all the more proud of her for it, and admired her very much for it as well. She was an excellent attorney, she had her set of friends from P.S. 118, and some new ones. She did have a good life. She was just missing a lot of things to truly make her happy. She knew something (or rather _someone)_ was missing in her life, she had confided in him about it, but didn't even know it.

Brainy had what he truly wanted. ...But it was slowly falling away. And he began to wonder if it was that wizard, Forthwind, teaching him a lesson, or if the entire thing itself just got messed up because of certain things that happened. But of course that just raised even more questions. Whatever was happening, it was all going downhill. He knew that he could rationalize things all he wanted, but a deeper part of him knew better.

He had ruined Helga's love life. The one thing she wanted in her life. The love she had for Arnold never changed. No matter what. Brainy could go back and change the time and even universe a million times, and it wouldn't make a difference. People could speculate all they wanted, think of ways as to why Helga would be perfect for him, or some other boy for that matter. As good as some reasons may come to be, as compatible to whatever level she could be with him or another boy, whatever hits the marks right and balances things out...there really was no denying that above all, Arnold was her true love.

Once upon a time, he accepted it. Once upon a time, he knew he couldn't help his feelings and merely accepted them. Once upon a time, he knew he and Helga would never be together but was fine with it.

What happened?

_What's happened to me? I've become a greedy monster. A selfish, greedy monster feeling that he deserved something he was after but could never have. Why did I just ruin things for Helga and Arnold at the drop of a hat for my own gain? Why did the old me give in? ...And make room for the new me? ...I not only caused Helga to miss out on true love, but I ruined Arnold's life and made him and Ruth lose their baby. I made Kevin and Christine...two wonderful but completely innocent people we never knew in the past lose their child as well. ...What happened to me?_

He thought back to that other tragic time. Kevin and Christine had lost their child just five months into pregnancy. A miscarriage. It had happened during a car accident that they had been in while they were driving home from the airport coming home from visiting family in Idaho. The accident thankfully was not fatal, neither of them nor the car they hit were seriously hurt, just some stitches and recoveries to be made. It was very fortunate that everyone was fine. Unfortunately, the baby was not. The impact had caused Christine to be forced into an awkward position that wasn't good for the baby, and because she had been unconscious through it, with Kevin being stuck because of the inability to access his seat belt buckle, was unable to help her. Only the paramedics who later came helped them out.

It had happened during the day that Helga joined Arnold on an unofficial "double date" lunch, and Helga had received the call from Brainy as he called her from the hospital once Kevin and Christine and the other accident victim were admitted. The four of them immediately went to the hospital to make sure everything was all right and to offer their support. Brainy had to help out Stella and a few other doctors during the process, but at times he'd go back to the waiting area to keep them updated. He could remember Helga on the verge of tears, and Arnold was holding her hand and letting her know everything was all right. Eileen Galvin had looked nervous and scared, even over people she didn't know, but she too offered her kind and motherly instinct support to Helga as well, despite being younger than she was. The quietest Henry Townshend had barely spoken a word, let alone showed his emotions of the situation, but you could see in his eyes that he was gravely worried. He'd held Eileen's hand tenderly, and placed his hand on Helga's shoulder to offer her comfort as well.

As said, Kevin and Christine were fine. Some cuts and scrapes, stitches, bruises, pains, and sprained limbs. Nothing was broken on either of them, so it was perfectly fortunate that they came out of it all right. But the baby had lost its life within her womb, and it had been extracted from her stomach. He recalled the brokenhearted tears of the couple as they mourned the loss of their baby, which had been a boy.

The healing and recovering process had been long for everyone. Arnold and Helga were a huge part in helping them out, especially the former, considering he too had lost a child. Through different circumstances, but the same none the less. While Kevin and Christine made it through just fine, knowing their child would not want them dwelling on his death, and with the immense support system they had in thanks to friends and their families, they made it. But it still lingered, and they had tried so hard to conceive ever since. To their chagrin, the infertile problems returned, just as they had before Christine was _finally_ pregnant. They tried, and tried, with fertility tests and everything.

It was three months after, that they decided to try for adoption. If they could not have a child of their own, then they would adopt. To begin, they put out their adoption portfolio to a few adoption agencies along the state, and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, after five months, there was still nothing. Now they were going to attempt once more with fertility treatments and preserving embryos, in hopes to conceive. The chances of it working were very, very low at this point, but of course Brainy wasn't about to refuse them.

You never know until you try.

"Brian! Hey, wake up!"

Brainy just then registered that Helga was calling to him and waving her hand over his face. Blinking, he realized he had gotten lost in his thoughts, and shook his head to bring himself back down to earth.

_And here we all thought Arnold got lost in his thoughts and daydreams..._

"What's with you? You're spacing out again." Helga said, studying him. "You sure you're okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Brainy nodded, and stood. "I'll be right back Helga, I just have to put some things away in the office."

"Go ahead, doc." Helga chuckled, turning her attention back to her movie.

Standing up, Brainy took his bag and headed to the home office, snapping the light on. Just as he headed to the filing cabinet, something on Helga's desk caught his eye. It was an envelope. A letter. A letter from a hotel in Spain. It was from Arnold, using the stationary and envelope of the hotel he was staying in with Julianna. A letter addressed to Helga personally. Brainy felt a stab in his gut, as he came to realize that Arnold must've been writing personal letters to Helga. Love letters?

He was tempted, but tried to stop himself. Even though the letter was already opened, it still wasn't right to go through someone else's letters. Especially if they were meant to be private.

Then again, if it were THAT private, Helga wouldn't have left it on her desk right there where he could see it. So it obviously couldn't have been a love letter. It was probably just a personal letter addressed to Helga alone, and that was fine, right? It seemed to be the case.

Before Brainy could stop himself, he took the contents out of the envelope, seeing a couple pieces of Hotel Cortezo stationary with Arnold's letter to her written on them.

_**Dear Helga,**_

_**It's been a while since my last letter, and I'm sorry it took longer. But I guess now is as good a time as any, isn't it?**_

_**Spain is great! It's been a treat to come here, and Julianna is loving it here as well. The weather has been good to us, and her friends are really nice people. I've brushed up on a bit more Spanish, but of course I still suck. XD**_

_**After we're done here, we're looking to maybe go to London. I've always wanted to go there to jolly old England. We may not be there long, probably just a week, before we come on back to Hillwood. Time to settle down a bit! Not to mention I'll be heading back to school, so it's an excuse for a break and to come home. I expect to be back probably in less than a month at this point. It's been great to finally travel and get away for a while. I really needed it, did me some good. Thanks for all of your help and support in this, it means SO much to me, Helga. :)**_

_**I really miss you, and I can't wait to see you and everyone! I'll let you know when I'm back in town and maybe we could do something or whatever. I have a ton of photos that I took I'm sure you'd like, and some interesting stories. At least, I hope will be interesting.**_

_**Anyway, I just wanted to let you know what was up thus far. I hope you're doing okay over there and I'm looking forward to hearing from you. I'll let you know as soon as I can when we're coming back and we'll go from there.**_

_**By the way, thanks a lot for the legal advice I needed, since the legal system here in Spain is sure different! It really helped.**_

_**See you soon Helga, and hope to hear from you.**_

_**Sincerely,**_

_**Arnold**_

Brainy wasn't sure if he should have been relieved or not. But he was partly right, it wasn't a love letter at all. It was just a simple letter between friends. He read it over a couple of times, and saw it was just that. No hidden messages, no reading between the lines, nothing. It was nothing more than a letter sent to a friend. Upon checking the envelope and finding nothing else, he was reassured (if that was the right feeling) that it was indeed not a love letter. Just as he thought. If it had been a love letter, Helga would have hidden it better. He just knew that better. She was an amazing actress when she needed to be.

By the looks of things, he could see they wrote letters to each other. He did recall that Helga mentioned in passing that she wrote Arnold a letter at some point, but he had brushed it off after she did. She had even mentioned a few times that she missed him and hoped he was doing all right, wherever he happened to be at the time. Whether she realized she was sounding like someone who was missing their lover was beyond him.

Brainy heaved a sigh, and placed the stationary back into the envelope and left the letter as he had found it. The unexpected yet unsurprising inevitable was coming closer.

He just wondered if the two in question would even come close to doing anything about it.

XXX

A month passed since Brainy discovered the letter from Arnold to Helga, and today was going to be a whole new ordeal.

Arnold was coming back to Hillwood with Julianna, and his parents. After the pair had left London, they had received a summons from the elder of the Green-Eyed people in San Lorenzo, requesting to see him. He had called Miles and Stella from an airport in the Province of Nova Scotia in Canada, where their flight had been on a lay-over, and asked to meet them there. Now they were all coming back to Hillwood and Arnold and Julianna invited Brainy and Helga to meet them for lunch at a Chinese restaurant. Miles and Stella did want to join them, but Stella had an emergency at the hospital she needed to attend to, and Miles had to meet with his supervisor at the University.

Now they were at Zhang Sum, a Chinese place that had opened about two years ago, and had already gained a really good reputation for having quality service and excellent food. On top of that, there was also a little stage where Chinese musicians would perform some songs in the various dialects of the Chinese languages, using all kinds of instruments, including the traditional drums and guitars and keyboards.

Brainy now sat, with Helga next to him, across from Julianna, with Arnold next to her. Julianna Fitch was a very beautiful woman, with striking azure eyes (which Brainy couldn't help but wonder about), and dirty blonde hair. She had a bronze tan, but she was clearly Caucasian by the looks of it. She was a swimsuit model, which was for a magazine that featured models for charity, and most of the proceeds she and the company would make went to organizations to help children and to also enforce feeling good about yourself. The magazine was _Inner Beauty Matters_, and the photos of the models were all completely natural with no enhancements thanks to lighting, angles and digital computer programs. Yes, of course they had to be edited in a certain way for it to show up right for when it went to print and show up in the magazine, but for the most part, it embraced the size and looks of any woman. The company producing it was _Inner Selves_, and used natural alternatives for their advertising and making their products. They sold the magazine, books, clothing, recipes, and accessories. It was all about feeling good about yourself, and helping others feel the same way. The magazine also featured plenty of plus-sized models. It was kind of like how Playboy celebrated and respected sexual content instead of glorifying it as something sleazy and dirty.

Along with being a model, Julianna was also a Human Rights activist, which Brainy found to be great in someone who would fight for human rights. It was no wonder she and Arnold got along so well and even seemed to be more than just friends. Julianna was 28, just a little older than they were, and she lived in Hillwood, where one of the branches of _Inner Selves _was located. Her father was a doctor, a Neurologist, living in Seattle, and her mother had passed away from a terminal illness when she had been in college. Despite the hardships, she held herself together and proved to be a strong woman who never gave up.

"Life's too short. So why the hell would I want to wither away because of some crap that rained down on me when I had no control over it?" Was what she had said, earning a laugh and high-five of agreement from Helga.

While Arnold was telling Helga some of his travel stories, which Brainy noticed she was listening very intently to and often threw in some commentary or would laugh, depending what the story was about, Julianna spoke to him (Brainy) about his work at the hospital and about her father as well.

"Being a Neurologist, Dad sure deals with the human brain a lot!" Julianna was saying, adjusting her ponytail a bit as she continued with her explanation. "I remember when I was seven, and Dad showed me a real live brain he had extracted from a dead patient to use as a science experiment, and I just freaked out SO bad!"

Brainy chuckled, shaking his head. "Being exposed to human organs, a real one at that, can be very surreal since they're always out of sight. In my work I've only ever seen a few things, some of which involving a Caesarian operation, and open-heart surgery. It really takes a lot to stomach it, you have to be very good at it or else you'd pass out."

"No kidding! Dad let me watch surgery one time, it was for...I think it was to remove an appendix." Julianna recalled, and made a face. "I just passed out from all that blood and seeing more of the insides of someone! It was just...ew. All the more power to doctors for this!"

"I can understand." Brainy nodded. "I'll admit I don't enjoy it and I don't like looking at it, but I can handle it."

"Kinda like you with horror movies." Helga chimed in for a moment, now looking at him with a playful smirk.

"Oh, I can't watch those! Well, I can watch the thriller, psychological ones, but the ones with monsters and gore, no way! I watched _Jurassic Park_ once and I couldn't even finish it!" Julianna shuddered.

"Aw! You're no fun." Helga snickered. "That's one of my all time favourite movies."

"Mine too." Arnold agreed, chuckling.

"Looks like we're singled out on this one." Brainy remarked to Julianna, who laughed.

"You're right, we are!" The older woman agreed. "I hope our double dates don't include scary movies!"

"If we did that, you and B-Rye would have to go watch _Happy Hoppy Bunny_ while we see _The Hills Have Eyes_!" Helga quipped, reaching over the table to nudge Arnold.

"Fine by me!" Julianna giggled. "As long as we don't have to see that!"

"You guys are terrible." Arnold said with a laugh, and grinned in Helga's direction.

"We are." Helga gave an innocent smile. "Ain't I a stinker?"

"That's an understatement." Brainy chuckled, shaking his head.

"Hey! Don't make me bring Ol' Betsy out of retirement! I'm sure your face between your eyes missed her!" Helga held her fist to him playfully.

_Ah, the good old days..._ Brainy thought, reminiscing for a moment. "Wouldn't dream of it, Helga."

"Damn it!" Helga mock whined. "Curses, foiled again!"

"Stop whining! No one cares." Julianna stuck her tongue out at Helga in a childish but playful manner.

"Screw you!" Helga playfully gave her the finger, grinning. Brainy couldn't help but almost feel a bit shocked at that. It didn't seem unlike her to do that, but imagining her doing that at nine or ten years old was almost seemed to be an unbelievable image.

"Women..." Arnold muttered, but he was smiling.

"Tell me about it." Brainy agreed, snickering.

The lunch continued on pleasantly, despite that Brainy couldn't turn a blind eye to the intense-and growing-chemistry between the two in question, as much as he tried not to pay attention to it. He wondered if Julianna noticed, or if she did, simply attributed it to the fact that they had known each other their whole lives and were simply that comfortable with each other.

Originally, it was partially the case, given they'd been in the same classes together since preschool. The comfort didn't come into play until later...and even then it was strained.

But here, Brainy could see that their relationship was far better than it ever had been. They were much more grown up and mature, and more developed into who they were as people. It was here that their common ground and differences balanced and off-set each other just so perfectly. Helga, though still being Helga, was a lot more of her own person instead of just her father. Arnold was still Arnold, despite the tough times and changes he'd faced. It was no wonder they were more than perfect for each other now.

In all of this crazy madness, Brainy had made them much more perfect for each other...than they ever had been before.

And if he didn't do something, it would lead to further unhappiness on them, others, and himself. All the while pushing them closer together, yet further apart.


	15. A Lesson?

**Okay guys. :D There's going to be this, one more chapter, and then an epilogue. Wow, the end IS approaching, huh? Well, fear not, because there will be a little surprise in store. :) I won't say what it is, but stay tuned.**

**Also, I'm going to be updating just this story until it's finished. Fear not, I will soon return to **_**South of the Continent, Mean World, Silent Hellwood, A New Life**_**, and all those sequels and collabs and gifts I'm doing. XD My oh my. But for now, this is getting my full attention until it's finished.**

**Once more, thank you all for reading. :D This and the two companion fics I wrote. :) And thanks for putting up with my endless references. XD**

**Enjoy the story. :D **

XXX

"How did it turn out this time?" Helga wanted to know as she poured herself another cup of coffee.

Brainy sighed as he sat at the table and ran one hand through his platinum blonde hair. "I'm afraid it didn't work. Christine's embryos were good and healthy, but unfortunately it didn't work out again. She and Kevin were devastated. ...It's really hard on them now."

"Oh criminy. I should've known! Way to bring down their hopes and dreams all over again. ...Well, have they considered maybe using a surrogate mother?" Helga wondered out loud.

"Stella and I did suggest that to them, and they considered the possibility if the adoption doesn't go through. They're going to give it probably three or four months at this point, and then maybe look into getting a surrogate mother." Brainy replied.

"Hmm." Helga glanced out the window at the night sky, watching the snowflakes fall thoughtfully. "Well, it better work out for them either way. It's heartbreaking to see them in this funk, Brian."

"It really is." Brainy agreed. "Kevin and Christine are such wonderful people, and they deserve to be happy. It's just unfortunate that something out there is just not allowing them to have children." _And that something is me. I didn't just screw up Helga's love life, or Arnold's...but also messed up with people I've never even met back then._

"You can say that again." Helga muttered, drinking more of her coffee. "Arnold and I are planning to go visit them sometime this week, to give them a little pick-me up, you can say."

"That's good to hear, I'm pretty sure they'll appreciate that very much, considering how much help you two have been to them." Nodded Brainy. "How is Arnold, anyway? Are he and Julianna doing okay?"

"He's definitely a lot happier with Julianna, that's for sure. She's a good gal and really relates to him a lot. Plus, she's modeling for a good cause! That's pretty damn cool. He's gone back to school to finish his education, and he's really happy about that too. I think the traveling he's done over the past few months had really done him a lot of good." Helga smiled softly as she talked about him. "I spoke with him over the phone today after I got home from work actually, because he wanted to tell me how he passed his first exam. Yeeaaaahh!" She pumped her fist in the air and chuckled. "He also said that Ruth came to visit the other day, to drop off some things and they talked a bit. She's been doing pretty good, from what he said. She's been promoted at the hair salon, and she's really gained popularity with that. She's not dating yet, I think she's waiting a bit longer, but he said she had a male friend she might be interested in. They're still getting along, which is good. He also said he went back to P.S. 118 to see his students and chat for a bit."

"Does he miss teaching?"

"Yeah, he does. Even though it wasn't his dream job, he did enjoy it none the less. He loves being with the kids and teaching them, and he's great with his coworkers too, which is good. He's planning to go back and teach part time after he finishes with his last semester, so that he can also support his passion."

_At least things are looking up for him. That's good to hear. ...But that still leaves the fact Helga loves him, and he loves her too, whether they know it or not. I guess that really is something I can't control. I had tried, but of course her love for him never ceased to exist._

"Good for him." Brainy murmured. "It's good things are looking up in his life, I'm glad to hear that."

"Me too." Helga agreed, tracing her finger along the rim of her mug, staring down at it thoughtfully. "He's been through quite a lot...I'm just glad he's happier and is finally moving forward with his dreams. I remember our lunch that we had with him and Julianna, he was a lot brighter than I'd seen in a long time. Criminy, I've gone soft! Can I help it that seeing someone I care about actually happy makes me feel good too?"

"Of course you can't. It's something you've embraced over the years but never truly showed until you were ready." Brainy said, patting her hand.

"Heh, you know me too well." Helga chuckled.

At the moment, Brainy wasn't so sure about that.

"Anyway, I'm running a virus scan on your computer, so you can use mine if you need to check your e-mail or whatever." Helga told him, getting up. "I'm going to try to turn in early...once the caffeine wears off. I'll read a bit, then try to sleep. Got a big case tomorrow, anyway. Night, Bee-Rye."

"Goodnight, Helga." Brainy stood up to give his wife a kiss, but she turned her head so that he would get her cheek instead.

"Coffee." Helga explained with a chuckle. "Not the best time to kiss someone."

Brainy chuckled, though he wondered deep down if she was uncomfortable with sharing a kiss in general. "Good point."

"Exactly." She winked at him playfully before heading off to the bedroom.

Brainy cleaned up the kitchen a bit, before he headed off to the office room to do some last-minute updates and checking his e-mail. He went to Helga's computer, and came to see that she was still logged in on her e-mail. Before he could log out, he came to see a new e-mail popping into her inbox. It was from Arnold.

_No, no, no, no, NO. You are NOT going to read it or go through her e-mail! That's an invasion of her privacy!_ He scolded himself. _She will KILL you if she finds out!_

But of course he was already clicking it open upon inwardly scolding himself. Why oh why did he have to be a bigger idiot than he was?

Of course, just like Arnold's letter to her, it was not a love letter. Straight forward and sincere, no reading between the lines, no bullshit. Nothing. It was a simple e-mail to a friend.

_**Helga,**_

_**Thanks for the movie recommendation! Julianna actually really liked it! Looks like we'll bring her to the dark side eventually. XD**_

_**Anyway, Kevin did call me just about half an hour ago and was telling me the unfortunate news again. What a shame. :( I felt so bad for them, just when you think there's a brim of hope. Well, they are still not giving up, either by adoption or still trying to conceive, and I'm definitely proud of them for that.**_

_**He also said that Christine wanted to go to a museum in Seattle with you next Sunday if you were available. She'll probably call or e-mail you tomorrow with that. If you can, I'm sure she'd love that.**_

_**Also, Julianna wanted me to tell you about this documentary that's playing on the History Channel, about World War 1, that talks about the Christmas eve that created the film adaptation "Joyeux Noel", and since you're into that kind of thing, she figured you'd like that! It's on tomorrow night at 8 PM. Hope you enjoy it. :D**_

_**I'd better sign off, so I'll see you later. :)**_

_**Arnold (Just in case you forgot who was e-mailing you. XD)**_

Even Brainy couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the other man's closing, witty comment.

Looking at this e-mail, he couldn't help but think back to the fourth grade when they were given E-mails in the computer class. Brainy had e-mailed Helga, professing his undying love to her. She responded back saying she loved him too, and for some time he truly believed she loved him too, and had been in a panic, going to ask Arnold for help. It wasn't until later that he realized (and should have known in the first place), Helga thought "Golden Hero" was Arnold. It was why she thought it was a cruel joke when she saw him there and kind of flirted with him a bit, and then turned around to see himself with the rose, jut as she had told him to bring. If that had not been an indication that she didn't feel the same way about him, he didn't know what was. She didn't hate him, Brainy knew that, but there was just no love.

Not until he practically forced her to love him.

Quickly, he marked the e-mail as "Read" so that Helga would never find out he had read it, and then shut down her computer. Once more he was proven wrong. If they were indeed having a love affair, they hid it extremely well. As wrong and hurtful as it would be, he couldn't blame either of them.

_What happened to me? One minute I was actually helping Helga get back on her feet and to never give up back in the jungle...and it was a part of what motivated her to truly act on her love for him. One minute I was happy for her, glad she had gotten what she wanted, and that Arnold did too, little had he once realized. I was happy for them. I could see a strong future for them. Young or not, love is love. They were going to learn a lot, about each other and themselves. They were going to get married one day, and live their dreams. Even through tough times throughout their lives together, they would always love each other, and get through everything. ...And I just shattered that for my own selfish desires._

Brainy stood up, and slowly trudged out of the office, his mind a whirlwind of everything that had happened, even before this whole mess began.

There was a time he wanted nothing more than for Helga to get what she wanted. While at the back of his mind, he did indeed want to be the one she loved, he knew it would never happen, and he was fine with it. As said, he didn't want pity for it, either. It wasn't worth it. Life was too short to pine after a love that was never meant to be. Brainy knew he would one day find someone else. It would take time, time to get over it and move on, but for the most part, he knew everything would be good.

Because he wanted Helga to be happy. And he knew exactly who and what would make her happy.

_Now I take the ONE opportunity I have to really change Helga's mind. When I should never have done that in the first place. Why did I do this? Why didn't I just walk away? ...Is Forthwind testing me?_

The ringing of the phone cut him off. It was also from his hospital cell phone, meaning there was an emergency. Brainy went to his phone that was in his bag, taking it out before he answered it.

"Hello?"

"Oh Brian, I am _so_ sorry to bother you." Stella murmured on the other line, sounding stressed and tired. "We're going to need your help with this surgery. A woman who was actually visiting in from Canada needed to see a gynaecologist right way, and it turned out that her recent Pap Smear came back at level four, and she needed to be rushed in for a Hysterectomy. Dr. Warner couldn't make it due to being away on vacation, so we're going to need you to help us while we attempt to perform this surgery. We'll need all the help we can get."

_Another something that causes the inability to have children. This time to someone I REALLY don't know._ Brainy thought, biting his lip. "No problem Stella, I'll be right there in fifteen minutes."

"Thank you Brian, you're a tremendous help to all of us here, and a very valuable member of the staff." Stella said, sounding as though she were smiling now. "This will really help it along, and it's wonderful we can count on you."

A stab of guilt ran through him as he took in the undeserving praise. "...You're welcome, Stella. It's my pleasure. I'll see you there."

Upon hanging up, Brainy rubbed his temples as if facing an oncoming headache. He didn't have one, but may as well have had one.

Going to the bedroom, he found Helga reading a Stephen King novel in bed, looking very relaxed in her black sleeping tank top accompanied by pink flowery flannel PJ bottoms. She looked cute.

But it wasn't the time to be admiring her. He had a job to do...and possibly a lesson to learn.

"Helga, I have to go down to the hospital." He told her. "Dr. Warner isn't in because he's on vacation, and they need me to help perform a Hysterectomy. Especially since it's on a woman who's traveling in from Canada."

"What! Another one?" Helga looked up from her book. "Oh man. You are just a magnet for that kind of trouble, Brian. Are you sure you can do that? You know how...graphic a Hysterectomy can get. I saw one on a documentary once, and it was...yeah. I can stomach a lot of things, but that was just gruesome."

Brainy shuddered. If Helga couldn't handle it, then how would he fare out?

Oh well. Big Bob Pataki had a bit of a bout of Hemophobia, even to the point he couldn't look at it from photographs in a textbook. Who's to say that strong people couldn't have something that they didn't enjoy seeing? Everyone was scared of something.

But he had to, he was a doctor, and doctors were trained for this kind of thing.

"So I've heard. But they need my help, and I guess someone has to do it." Brainy sighed.

"Better you than someone who could faint even at the sight of blood." Helga agreed. "Well, do you know when you'll be back?"

Brainy looked at his watch. It was 9:34 at the moment. "I'm not sure, it could be anywhere between midnight or two in the morning, depending how well the surgery goes and to make sure nothing else is wrong with her before, during and after. I'll keep you posted and call you when I'm coming home."

"All right, Bee-Rye." Helga saluted him before going back to her book. "See you later."

Nodding, Brainy left the room and went to retrieve his bag and put on his coat and boots. This was going to be yet another long night indeed.

XXX

By 1:29 AM, the surgery was well over, and the patient was recovering.

The surgery had been a success, despite the horrific sights of all the blood, the insides of a woman's... and the removal of an actual uterus. Brainy actually did pass out after the surgery was over, but whether it was from the process or from other matters, he wasn't sure. But thankfully, he was only out for twenty minutes.

Once he was awake, thanks to some water and smelling salts, Brainy was all right and managed to stand on his feet. Stella told him that he and her were to consult with the patient they had operated on. He obliged.

Much to his surprise, when he had consulted Stella earlier upon arrival, he had found out that the woman they operated on was Helga's babysitter from way back when they were kids, and a little earlier into her teenage years. Her name was Casana Mariano (née Kusabana), and Brainy remembered her when she was a college student babysitting Helga, and surprisingly found to have a lot in common with her. Now she was thirty-six years old, married, a Forest Scientist, living in her home country of Canada, had one child and was just now having to go through removing her uterus. Her recent Pap Smear had come back at level four, as Stella said, indicating that not only were cancer cells present, but were also in the surrounding tissue. They had tried to stop with it with a freezing procedure that would allow removal of the infected tissue, but unfortunately the cancer had come back, and the only way to save her was to remove her uterus. While Brainy did feel a little uplifted to know she actually _did_ have one child already, it did still have to sting to be able to have no more, even when you're nearing forty. Although having children at that age wasn't the best idea, nor the healthiest, who's to say she didn't want to try again?

Brainy and Stella went to the patient's room, finding that she was recovering from the surgery, laying on the bed and hooked up to an IV. The older woman (older than Brainy anyway) looked haggard and pale, but for the most part was recovering all right, from what he observed.

"Mrs. Mariano, it's good to see you again. I'm Dr. Shortman, we met before, and this is Dr. Brian Williams, he assisted us through the procedure due to the fact that Dr. Warner was unavailable."

"Hello, Mrs. Mariano." Brainy said politely.

"Hi, Doctor." Casana murmured in a tired, wobbled voice, but she smiled a little. "H-How is everything...?"

"The surgery went just fine without any problem." Stella explained. "It will take you at least six weeks to recover, in which you will have to avoid engaging in physical activities aside from a bit of walking, as well as to take certain medication and eat certain foods. You will probably have to avoid flying back to Canada at the moment."

A groan escaped the brunette on the hospital bed before she nodded. "That's not good...but, I can stay with my cousin until then."

"All right." Nodded Stella. "We want to keep you in the hospital the rest of the week for observation and further post-surgery treatment. I already contacted your husband to let him know what was going on, so you don't have to worry about that. He said he and your son would try to fly in to see you."

"We also have plenty of support groups here in the hospital." Brainy added. "It's not mandatory, but you can definitely receive beneficial help from attending some support group meetings for all women who are unable to have children one way or another."

"...I see...that might actually be helpful." Casana murmured thoughtfully. She looked at him then, squinting. "Hey...wait a second. I remember you now. It's you, isn't it? Brainy. ...The wheezing kid. ...I remember seeing you a lot whenever Helga and I would go somewhere...and when you two were dating."

Brainy blinked, not expecting her to remember him. "...You remember me?"

"Of course. ...How is Helga, anyway?"

"Oh, you know Helga!" Stella said eagerly. "In fact, this man right here is married to her."

Brainy nodded meekly. "I am. For nearly five years."

"Oh...that's wonderful." Casana murmured, nodding slowly with a little smile. "Give her my regards, will you?"

"I will." He promised. "In fact, I'll even bring her in to see you tomorrow after work. I'm sure she'd like to catch up with you."

"Thank you." The older woman yawned. "That'd be great to see her again. Sure have to get used to knowing she's not a nine-year-old kid any longer...heh heh."

Brainy managed to smile a bit. "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, Mrs. Mariano."

"Hey, call me Casana. And I'll call you Brainy."

"All right then. Duly noted." Brainy chuckled. "Anyway, you just rest up, and the nurses will attend to anything you need, and we'll keep you updated of the recovery process throughout the week."

"Right." Stella agreed. "We managed to get your file from the hospital in Victoria, so everything will be under control at this point, hopefully."

"Thank you, Dr. Shortman. ...Despite everything, I feel better about it." Casana murmured and closed her eyes. "And hey, seeing you again, Brainy, was a nice little bonus."

_I'm not the one you should be saying this to._ Brainy thought. But he still smiled as he humoured the older woman.


	16. Now it's time to end this

**This is it, everyone! The final chapter! ...Well, almost, since the next chapter is an epilogue. XD**

**I have to say, this has been quite an interesting journey. This just started as a weird idea that was somewhat inspired by **_**Back To The Future**_**, and some other things. I had a lot of other ideas to do for this, but thanks to some help and guidance, the story just became what it should've been.**

**Now who's with me now that Brainy is coming to his senses? Say with it me, people! One...two...three.**

**All of us: IT'S ABOUT SMEGGING TIME!**

**XD**

**Brainy's speech is actually inspired by James in Silent Hill 2, when he finally realized the core of his sins...and was ready to confront both Pyramid Heads! :D ...Except we won't have that here. XD Just a wizard who looks like Gandalf the Grey and sounds like Patrick Stewart. OwO**

**And no, I'm not a LoTR fan. XD I DID see **_**The Two Towers**_** when it came out, actually. But nah, it's not for me. It's not say I don't find it all cool, though. The Peter Jackson films are awesome. :D**

**Well, thank you all SO VERY MUCH for reading this. :D It's been a fun journey, and it's sad that it's coming to an end, but it all turned out well. :3**

**Astrid belongs to my awesome buddy SuprSingr! :D OwO**

XXX

Brainy looked up to see Helga walk into the unit, looking distressed and tired. Her eyes were pinkish red, as if she were teary. She took off her winter coat, shaking some of the show out of her hair, and took her boots off as well, not uttering a word. Usually she had quite a bit to say, not to mention a greeting. But today, she just seemed teary and distant.

"...Helga? What's wrong?" He dared to ask.

"Nothing. I'm fine. I-I was just...out for a bit after I left the hospital." Helga wiped her eyes, and went to the kitchen to get something to drink. "Been doing a lot of thinking."

"About...?" Brainy prompted.

"A lot of things. ...I've also been thinking of Kevin and Christine, about their current funk." Helga came back to the living area, and sat on the couch with a drink of orange juice in her hand. "If they'd let me, I'd be their surrogate mother."

It was a good thing Brainy hadn't been drinking that orange juice, otherwise, he'd have done a spit-take.

"Helga...what do you mean?" Brainy blinked.

"...Brian, I had a dream last night." Helga murmured. "I dreamt that I was fifteen years old, and I was pregnant. I was knocked up, because I was..." She frowned then, as if trying to remember. "I don't know...all I know was that it was some kind of a crazy, impulsive one-night stand with someone I didn't love. Sid of all people. You know, from school? Anyway, I eventually decided to give my child up for adoption, and...Kevin and Christine were the people I chose. It's all kind of blurry and weird, but I remember giving them my baby, and seeing there...joyful, happy, smiling faces...I... I know it's crazy, but I want to do that for them. I want to be their surrogate mother. I want to do this for them. It'll be tough, I don't know if they'd make me, but criminy I want to give them a baby! They've been wronged of that privilege for too damn long."

"Isn't that a little impulsive?" Brainy questioned.

"NO!" Helga shouted, standing up now, her azure eyes flaring. "No it's not! I'm going to do this for them, and you are not going to change my mind! I actually even confided in Phoebe about it, and I mentioned it in passing to Arnold too! And they support me if I decide to do it! I'm sure I will do this for them! I just need to talk to them and make sure I'm fertile. Now you can support me on this or shut the hell up!"

Frozen in shock, Brainy gulped a bit, and managed to nod. A woman nearing 27 was certainly more scary and intimidating than a nine-year-old girl for sure. "Okay Helga...I'm sorry. You're right. If you want to do this, it's your decision...a-and I support you."

"Good." Helga visibly relaxed, and rubbed her forehead. "Sorry I yelled at you. I-I just had a long day, and I'm pretty tired."

_You have more reason to yell at me, Helga._ Brainy thought to himself. "It's all right. You should go to bed, Helga. That'll make you feel better."

"Sure, I'll do that." Helga nodded, finishing her orange juice. As she headed to the bedroom, he noticed her touch her lips, mumbling to herself.

What was that about?

Brainy shook his head, laying back against the couch as he stared up at the ceiling. This was all turning out to be one huge mess, and he hadn't known that in the beginning. It wasn't until THAT encounter, that things started going downhill. For him, and everyone involved.

He had committed a serious offence of meddling with someone else's happiness for the sake of his own.

It was because of his stupid wish that Arnold ended up married to a woman he didn't love, a woman who didn't even love him back, and a woman who practically didn't care about her own child until it was born dead. It was because of his stupid wish that he had to face getting a divorce. It was because of his stupid wish that Arnold lost his first child. It was because of his stupid wish that he never faced the true beauty of falling in love. It was because of his stupid wish that he was held back from following his dreams.

It was because of his stupid wish that he never got to fall in love with his true love, Helga.

It was because of his stupid wish that Helga was stuck in a one-sided love marriage. It was because of his stupid wish that she never got to truly live out her entire dreams. It was because of his stupid wish that she never fell in love with her one true love until it was too late.

It was because of his stupid wish that innocent people suffered. Arnold, Ruth, Helga, Kevin, Christine, and Casana too.

No matter how much Brainy tried to rationalize everything, he only led this whole mess further and further down the slippery slope. It was all up the river without a paddle.

Arnold and Helga loved each other. But they couldn't be together.

Kevin and Christine were trying desperately to conceive or adopt.

Casana was in the hospital due to a hysterectomy.

He had not only wronged the girl he loved, but other innocent people.

That was inexcusable.

"...I made a huge mistake." He murmured to himself.

"So...young Brian Williams..." A booming, disembodied voice sounded then. "You think you have made a mistake?"

Brainy's eyes shot open and he jumped up from the couch, looking around the room frantically. He knew that voice...a voice he felt he nearly forgot. The door to the office room then slammed shut by an unseen force. So did the door to the bathroom, and then the bedroom door. The lights blinked and flickered, turning on and off, the windows open and shut. Cold wind blew in and around, blowing papers and other small objects around, chilling the air around him.

Strange sounds were heard in the distance, that sounded something like sirens. The air around him, though cold, grew heavy and oppressive. The room was becoming bloody, metallic rust, everything around him was changing. His head throbbed painfully, the windows kept opening and shutting loudly, the strange-sounding air raid sirens blared in the distance, the wind blew around coldly, the air grew heavier and heavier, a putrid smell hit his nose, and his mind was reeling from all this craziness.

Clutching his head, Brainy groaned in pain and sank to his knees no the floor. This was all too much. Forthwind had to be causing this. A personification of punishing himself for his sins. Just as his strange dream from before had done.

"You seem to have caught the error of your ways, young Brian." Forthwind's thundering accented voice was closer.

Looking up, Brainy now saw the wizard standing over him a couple of feet away. It was then he realized he was right. This _whole thing_ had been a test.

"...This...was all a test, wasn't it?"

Forthwind gave a nod. "You realize that now, young Brian. I had created all of this to teach you the lesson you were to learn."

Managing to stand up, Brainy felt himself regain his senses. It all rained down on him, this had been a test. To know he could never achieve happiness at the expense of another's misery. A battle of morals. His wish came with a hefty price. His happiness was achieved, but all came with a price. That was the lesson here. He had made people miserable in different ways in order to achieve his selfish desires. When he could have just let well enough alone. In a world where some things couldn't be controlled. There were things in this world that just weren't meant to be controlled, and when they were, it would lead to disaster.

"You were right. ...I was weak. That's why I needed you, everything that happened in this world, this timeline...to punish me for my sins. I wronged people because I took control of something I should never try to control. I ruined the life of the girl I loved. It was a battle of morals. I had to learn that I was achieving undeserved happiness at the expense of others. ...But that's over now. I know the truth. All of it. Now it's time to end this." Brainy turned to Forthwind with determination.

"You realize the error of your ways, and live up to what you had tried for. It was why I granted your wish, to test you...to teach you exactly what you had to learn. Had you refused, you would have not lived this. You chose as such to grant your wish, and paid the price. ...Tell me, young Brian, what is it you want?" Forthwind regarded him coolly.

"I want to go back. Back to the way things were. I want to be ten years old again. I want Helga to be with the one she truly loves, and belongs with. I want to live my life as I see it. I want things to be the way they were before I even met you." Brainy told him. "I want to fix things to the way they should be."

"Very well, young Brian Williams. While you will retain these memories...your life shall be as it was before. But know this...happiness will come."

Before Brainy could question him on that, there was a bright flash of light, and once again he felt as if he were floating in midair. But he felt...cleansed, refreshed, light, warm, happy, content. At peace. Everything was all coming back...it was as if he were being reborn. A brand new Brainy. A brand new Brian J. Williams.

He had owned up to his mistakes, realized the error of his ways, and how his selfishness had wronged innocent people, including Helga. A battle of morals, and in the end, he knew of his sins, and throughout the whole ordeal was being punished and punishing himself for them all. It was all over now. A fresh, new, clean start was to come. Exactly what it should've been in the first place. He was going to live life as it came. He was going to be happy for Helga, just as he had been before. He was going to spend more time with his family. He was going to move on and find someone else one day. In all, he was going to live his life as he should have.

And this entire ordeal taught him just that. While it was painful at times, he couldn't help but feel grateful to Forthwind for bringing this to him. An impulsive decision that changed his life forever.

Now, he was going to make up for his sins.

XXX

When he opened his eyes, he found himself on the sidewalk. He could hear cars going by, the occasional chatter of people passing by, and the sound of police car sirens off in the distance. Across the street, he saw Arnold and Helga, both now ten years old again, and _not_ older in their mid twenties! They were just as he saw them before the whole ordeal started; eating ice cream and gazing lovingly into each other's eyes.

The adorable couple that they were...

Brainy looked at himself then, studying his hands, his clothes. He too was ten years old again! Not a twenty-seven year old doctor married to Helga! He was home. Back home again. Right back to the way things were before. The coach had turned back into a pumpkin.

And he was all the more happy for it.

"I'm home." Brainy murmured to himself. He didn't even feel the need to wheeze!

The abandoned, decrepit home from earlier was nowhere to be seen. He could see he was back just probably a few minutes before he found the abandoned house and met Forthwind. Nothing had changed. Everything was back to normal. All of the memories he had of the experience remained...even though he could never tell anyone of them.

Up across the street, saw Arnold and Helga exit Slausen's, holding hands. He casually crossed the street to try to listen in on what they were saying without them seeing him.

"So Bob and Miriam are going outta town this weekend. My babysitter's staying with me." Helga was telling him. "You better come by, Football Head! She's been dying to meet you ever since we started dating."

Arnold gave a laugh and Brainy grinned at how he kissed her on the cheek, making the pigtailed girl blush and giggle at the action. "Sure, Helga. I'll come over on Saturday afternoon, and we could have some fun with movies and playing games."

"Now you're talking! ...For once."

Brainy smiled more as he watched the couple head off down the street, feeling pretty giddy about how things were back to normal, and that they were with each other and very much in love. He learned a lot in his ordeal, and one of those things was that no matter what happened, Arnold and Helga would always love each other. They were soul mates, plain and simple. He knew they would run into problems in the future, and would probably try to break them apart. But no way were they going to let that stop them. Neither of them were going to make the mistakes they did in his warped timeline. Not at all. Whatever mistakes they would make, and would fix, would be of real life circumstances without magical meddling in the least.

And that, was really why their love was so true. This whole surreal, fantasy experience was a true testament to that.

It was over now. He was looking forward to getting on his with his life, and seeing just where it would all take him. Being a doctor was definitely something he wanted to do again, for sure.

Once the two lover birdies were out of sight and earshot, Brainy turned around and headed in the opposite direction to head on home in order to do what he had previously planned before this whole mess started, when he was tapped on the shoulder by someone coming out of a shop behind him.

"Excuse me." An accented, feminine voice reached his ears.

Turning around, Brainy came to meet with a young girl around his age, and he could swear he forgot to breathe. REALLY forgot to breathe. She had short brown hair in a delicate wave, striking blue eyes, and dressed in a short-sleeved purple dress with a black belt around her waist, white pants, and tan sandals. She also wore a white spangle bracelet on each wrist, and a white hairband in her hair. She smiled at him in a friendly way, despite that her cheeks were pinkening.

"I'm sorry to bother you. I was wondering if you knew where the nearest butcher shop is." The girl said, sounding as cool and confident as possible, but he could tell she was a little shy at the moment.

Brainy managed to breathe, albeit wheeze, and nodded. "Uh...yeah. Green's Meats, it's not far from...here. Keep...going down the street. ...Can't miss it."

"Oh, thank you!" The girl smiled widely. "I'm new in town, I just moved here from England. My name is Astrid. You?"

"Uh...Brian." Brainy managed, holding his hand out for her to shake.

"Brian! Nice to meet you!" Astrid eagerly shook his hand. "Oh...but your nickname is Brainy, is it not?"

"Uh...yeah."

"I knew it! I could just tell. Well, I'll be starting at P.S. 118 next week, fifth grade! Do you go there?"

His heart skipped a beat again, and he nodded a bit.

"I knew it!" Astrid grinned. "Wonderful! Well, I have to be going now. I have to bring home some meat for dinner tonight! Here, Brian." She took out a pen from her purse and a piece of notebook paper, scribbling down a number. "I have a feeling you'd like to see me again...so, if you'd like, you can call me anytime." She handed him her number and winked.

Brainy wheezed, nodding a bit.

"Wonderful! I'll see you later, Brian." She patted his cheek with her hand before heading off down the street...crashing into a metal trashcan. She looked sheepish and picked it back up from the ground before she continued on her way.

Bringing a hand to his cheek, Brainy felt himself blushing a little bit. It felt pretty odd that he hit it off so well with another girl, who could read him like a book, no less. He had a good feeling that this was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship. He wondered if that happened entirely by coincidence...or if maybe Forthwind was responsible for it.

Shrugging, he just smiled and headed off down the street in the opposite direction to head on home. It was time to move forward. And maybe stop stalking Helga, as well. She was in good hands, and he couldn't be more happy for her. Besides, he had a new friend he wanted to give attention to.

From an unseen force, Forthwind smiled as he watched the events unfold, and closed his eyes.

"It seems that my job is done. ...Young Brian finally knows of love so true."


	17. Epilogue

**Hey again, everyone! :D Welcome to the epilogue! **

**I want to thank One Fine Wire, my awesome buddy who, as I said before, has helped me tremendously with this story. Not only giving me ideas to add, but also formatting it correctly. Her feedback has been very encouraging and always a pleasure to see. She's done SO much for this story, I can't even begin to thank her enough. Thank you, buddy! :D**

**I also want to thank Maria, Kasu-Kapl on dA, for being so supportive and offering her feedback as well! You are AWESOME, Maria! OwO I love you, not-related sis! Thanks for your support! X3**

**And I also want to thank my not-related sister Rei! She not only enjoyed this story and offered feedback, but also drew a lovely fanart piece for it! Thank you, Rei! You're the best! :D**

**And to all of you, who have read and reviewed this story! :) Thank you very much, my dear constant readers. It's been a pleasure! :D**

**One last thing. One Fine Wire made a subtle hint toward Forthwind's origins in her companion fic of this story "**_**Another Lifetime**_**", that she wrote for me upon my request. :D Definitely go read it! She gave me an interesting suggestion, and I really liked it too (much like her other ideas), so I decided to go into it also!**

**All right, so enjoy the epilogue!**

XXX

Nearly six months had passed since Brainy's wacky adventure in the other world. Six months, half a year, since everything was back to normal. Back to the way things were supposed to be. He never did tell anyone about it, and why would he? No one would believe him. Physically, nothing even really happened (thankfully) to him either way. He knew that this would indeed make him think and see the world differently, given that he still had the memories of the warped other world.

But he was back. And things were back to the way they should have been. Which was just what he wanted by the time it was all over.

Forthwind hadn't appeared since then. And yet, Brainy could sometimes sense his presence in a strange way, as if he were watching over the events that would unfold. He did owe the wizard entity a huge thanks for this. It had certainly helped him realize what a fool he truly was. What an idiot he had been for even trying to meddle with Helga's love life, to make a world where she loved him too. But it only proved to backfire, since she still fell in love with Arnold.

It was just a clearer sign that they were meant for each other.

The two could go on and marry some other person, maybe fall in love with that person, sure, but Brainy knew better. A void, so empty, so prominent, but so mysterious, would be forever present in their hearts, if they were never together. They had a connection, a connection going beyond something even Brainy didn't understand. They were soulmates. It almost sounded like some big far fetched romance story about star-crossed lovers or even "destined lovers", but to put it that way, it made sense. Brainy knew more than ever, just how much they were meant for one another.

In the other world, Arnold would have married Julianna and despite loving her very much and with her being a great person for him, his heart would still have an empty void only Helga could fill. The same went for Helga, too. She had a void in her heart that told her something was missing in her life. And she soon discovered what it was, which became something she couldn't have, but was the one thing that filled her heart.

The two could easily have good lives if they married another person. They could easily have happy times, have wonderful families, great spouse, a good home, great jobs, everything. It was possible. But that didn't at all change the fact that they were meant for each other. It didn't change their connection.

Brainy could have gone back to Forthwind and created a world where Arnold didn't love Helga back. But that wouldn't have changed a thing. There would still be no denying their connection.

They had been through a lot together in their lives, and especially through the adventure in San Lorenzo. There was just no way the connection could be denied.

Despite it all, Brainy was glad that everything was normal again.

Still at this point, Arnold and Helga were still dating. They had even come out to their classmates about their relationship, which Helga threatened several punches of Ol' Betsy if they so much as dared speak up against them. Brainy was so proud of her because she was proving she wasn't afraid anymore. She wanted them to know that she loved Arnold more than she feared being walked all over on. Brainy knew also, that Arnold was proud of her too. It was just clearly evident in his jade eyes how happy he was that she was truly standing up for herself by no longer hiding herself. This was of course, not to say he didn't support her earlier decision that they keep their love hush hush. He understood and was supportive about it all the way through.

Since having come out, they freely held hands in public and at school, sat together at lunch (sometimes feeding each other), often gazed at one another lovingly, and while they kept most of their affectionate displays private, it didn't stop them from an occasional peck. What they did alone, was no one's business but their own.

Brainy was glad to see their development, and knew for sure that one day they would truly be together.

Meanwhile, it wasn't to say he left this whole experience behind him empty-handed.

While he certainly would have expected it and had been fine with it, Brainy actually now had a girlfriend of his own. Astrid Baldric. She was a young girl his age who had moved to Hillwood from England, due to her mother relocating them to escape the damned clutches of her husband. Astrid's father had been using drugs, and was soon kicked out of the house as a result. Her father then tried to kidnap her, but her mother didn't allow it. Since then, she had moved them around England, only to be further pursued by her husband, but then came to America. To finally escape him.

Astrid was, in some ways, a bit like Helga. But she was her own person by all means, and nowhere near a carbon copy. There were traits within her that definitely lured him, exactly as Helga possessed, but there was so much more to Astrid that was different, and yet it was still wonderful. Like Helga, she was also an Aries, and definitely carried the traits as such. At the same time, she was fairly reserved, but quite outgoing.

After he met her, and got to see her a lot at school and hung out more and more with her, he began to actually truly develop a huge crush on her. It was almost impossible to think, considering his everlasting love for Helga. Pretty soon, when around Astrid, he didn't even remember Helga's name! It was astounding. Pretty soon, despite that Helga would always have a place in his heart, he was very much more getting over her and moving on to Astrid.

Finally, after a couple of months of shyness, Brainy demurely asked Astrid on a date. She knew what he wanted to say, he knew this, because she was just that good at reading him, but allowed him to say what he wanted to. And of course, she shyly but happily accepted. She even admitted later on into their relationship how freaked out she was, since she had long given up on love. But no more. Astrid was then quite determined to one day become Mrs. Williams.

Or so he wished! They laughed about it a lot, though. Especially in terms of the fact that Astrid wasn't very fond of her last name, Baldric. "It makes me sound like a bald man!", she had said. And she definitely liked the last name Williams, which she said sounded very intelligent.

Which brings us to today.

Brainy and Astrid were taking a walk along Tina Park. It was the middle of March, fairly cool and crisp, but definitely a beautiful day for taking a walk and being outside. The snow had been long gone for a while, so pretty much everyone was back to wearing spring clothing. They walked, holding hands, taking in the simple warmth and loveliness of the park, and of course, taking in one another.

"And so then I told her, if she wanted to to REALLY impress someone with your natural charm, it was to be yourself!" Astrid was telling him a story about how one of her cousins came to her for advice on impressing boys. Particularly a boy she crushed on.

Brainy gave a little laugh. "That's good advice, Astrid. Being yourself..." He took another swig of his inhaler. "...is always the important-"

"-Thing!" Astrid finished for him, winking. "It's bloody brilliant how we can finish each other's sentences. "Isn't-"

"That right?" Brainy finished for her jokingly.

Astrid laughed heartily, and squeezed his hand playfully. "I think I liked it better when you didn't talk much, Brian!" She teased. She was also the only one (aside from his parents and sister) who called him Brian.

Chuckling, Brainy then heard shouts and laughter not too far away. Up along the grassy hill nearby, he caught sight of Helga running away, but she was laughing and playfully shouting to try to sound angry, but it was overshadowed by how much fun she was obviously having. Casana, now much younger and a fresh college student as opposed to an older woman approaching her late thirties bedridden in the hospital from a hysterectomy, was chasing her and laughing as well.

"Get away, Casy-Pants!" Helga was shouting.

"I don't think so, Helgie-Pants!" Casana shouted back to her, catching up to her.

Brainy and Astrid watched as the young girl's babysitter caught up to her and then caught her, sending them to the ground. Moments later, Arnold came running up and leaped onto Casana's back, hanging around her neck as he was laughing and joining in the fun.

"You got her now!" Arnold laughed, grinning widely.

"I got you, Helgie-Pants! I'm gonna eat you!" Casana made gnawing noises as she playfully pretended to eat at Helga's neck.

"No no no no no! Get off me you freaks!" Helga squealed, trying to escape the older girl's grip but to no avail.

Brainy chuckled, and Astrid was in a fit of giggles as they watched the scene. It was so adorable, and so hilarious. He couldn't help but feel elated at how Helga was having fun and seemed genuinely happy. Good for her. He was very happy to see that she was doing all right in life.

"So bloody cute." Astrid giggled.

"Yup." Brainy murmured in agreement. "Very."

The two of them continued walking along, before coming to a bench that they decided to take a seat on.

As Brainy observed their surroundings, his spectacled eyes then caught on to a surprising sight. Down the path, a little further away on the path in front of the bench, were a couple of people. A man and a woman, in their late twenties or so, he couldn't tell, but were definitely adults. They were walking, hand-in-hand, most likely a couple, and were talking about something that Brainy couldn't hear from where they were currently sitting.

His eyes widened as the man and woman came closer.

There was no mistaking who they were.

It was Kevin and Christine.

Brainy remembered Kevin and Christine all too well from the other world. Friends of Helga's, how they were such nice and great people and had faced the misfortune of losing their unborn child in a car accident. Helga had later stated that she had wanted to be a surrogate mother for them, which had quite surprised him then. Even now, he couldn't help but wonder if she would really do that later in life.

But were Kevin and Christine _real people_ from the "real" world? They seemed to be. Brainy recognized them instantly and their features matched perfectly, right down to the fact that Kevin was wearing glasses.

Kevin and Christine looked over at them as they walked by and smiled, waving.

"Hey. Good afternoon." Kevin said politely.

"'Ello." Astrid smiled, waving to them too.

Brainy smiled and nodded toward them in acknowledgement. The older couple's smiling gazes lingered on them for a few moments before they continued on straight ahead, talking amongst each other. He wondered why they were here, since from the other world, they had lived in California, though were living in Hillwood for a while. Were they actually residents of the city? Friends of Helga's family? Or were they here on vacation? Were they the same as they were back in the other world? Did they have fertility problems? Brainy had so many questions! He almost wanted to run to them and ask what was up!

"Brian? Hey Brian, hey!" Astrid poked him on the side. "What are you looking at? You all right?"

He didn't answer for a few moments, but he looked at her and nodded. "Yes. I'm fine."

The two continued to sit together, holding hands, while Brainy watched after Kevin and Christine a few moments longer. He wondered just what the future, the _real _future, was going to hold.

~**Sixteen Years Later~**

A lot of things happened by the time sixteen years had passed.

Brainy and Astrid had just gotten married, and were living together in downtown Hillwood in an apartment while Brainy was studying in medical school and working as an intern in the hospital. Astrid was currently a journalist for the Hillwood Herald, she wrote about international news. They didn't do anything huge or extravagant for their wedding, just a simple ceremony that they held at City Hall, and had a catered reception at a local venue. For their honeymoon, they had gone to Miami, Florida, which they had been saving up for over the past few years. They had been together for a good part of their childhood, then Astrid and her mother moved back to England when her horrid father was finally imprisoned for life with no chance of parole, Astrid was thirteen at the time. She had stayed there, until her second semester in college, when she moved back to Hillwood, claiming that she had missed it and wanted to live here again. She and Brainy had gotten together (and had kept in touch while she was gone) and were hanging out a lot, before it was realized that they were meant for each other and wanted to be together and get married.

Arnold and Helga had gotten married two years prior, and were happily married still. As far as Brainy knew, of course. They had done some traveling after high school, a bit during college, and were now especially continuing to do so. He was glad, not only were they married to the person they were truly meant for, but they were also living their dreams of having adventure and traveling the world. Arnold did teach at P.S. 118, though part time. Hilariously too, he even got to working with the same Eileen Galvin from the other world as well. Their meeting and her transfer was obviously different, but she was the same person. Not that Arnold knew any of that, of course.

Helga worked as an attorney, and also wrote books on the side. Brainy had gotten a crazy idea, and told Helga about his adventure in the other world. But in the form of it having been a dream, and that he pieced together, and decided to give her an idea for. Of course, he changed the names of the characters and other things, to keep it vague. Helga loved the idea and wrote out the story, which was known as _Love So True_. There were some things that were different than what Brainy remembered, since Helga had filled in some blanks and added her own flares to it. It was a hit, and a best seller. There was even a movie adaptation coming out soon, the casting and crew already established, and a trailer had been released.

She was also friends with Kevin and Christine, who had moved to Seattle for a while on a transfer from California. They were proud parents of their own son, named Matthew, and an adopted boy, named Patrick. Brainy was thrilled for them. The real-life Kevin and Christine were going to be just fine, and didn't have the horrid misfortunes of being damned-near infertile and losing their unborn.

What had happened to Ruth and Juliana? Brainy didn't even know. He had heard that Ruth was running her own Hairdressing and Esthetics school in Hillwood, and if Juliana existed...he didn't know, either. But if she did, he hoped she was doing well too.

But there is one part of our story that we should know.

Whatever happened to Forthwind?

Well, let's have a look.

It turns out that Forthwind was much like Brainy had been.

He lived in medieval Europe, in England, back in the 1500's, during Shakespeare's time. He had been a young boy, and had fallen in love with a merchant's daughter in his village, her name had been Marie DeLasandre, she was a French girl. Unfortunately for him, she had been in love with another boy, named Desmond Edeworth. Forthwind had gone to a man said to be a wizard, and begged him to create a world in which Marie loved him, and had never met Desmond. The wizard had granted his wish...but it only ended badly, much like Brainy's had ended. Unfortunately for him, Forthwind was punished. He was to follow in this wizard's steps. To become a wizard himself, who taught this very lesson to anyone who would follow.

Yes, it was indeed a cursed life. Despite that, Forthwind found great happiness in teaching the boys or girls who seeked his aid exactly what they needed to know, to know that you could not wish for something at the expense of others. To be careful what you wished for.

This was how he was led to Brainy. He was led to people who had been like him, and he would, in a way, help to save them from being punished as he had been.

Now, he was within the shadows, observing, and at times, you'd feel his presence. Other times, it's as if he were never there.

Needless to say, he knew by now that Brainy had learned a lot. No, Brian Williams. Not a lot of people called him Brainy these days, unless it was to be funny and remember old times.

His life was not perfect, it was no fairy tale happy ending. Life was still going to present problems. Forthwind knew this far too well. He knew that Brainy would encounter some time tough times, same with his wife, and same with Arnold, Helga, and everyone else. Life was tough. But, it was meant to be that way, to build strength and learn from it all, because in the end, it makes it completely worth it.

**THE END**


End file.
